


A Nightmare of Sorts

by giraffeduelist



Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen, Horror, Near Death Experiences, Suspense, Tag As I Go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23745097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffeduelist/pseuds/giraffeduelist
Summary: In the mystical world of Little Nightmares, Izuku has to escape the horrors that The Maw has to offer. Perhaps, he can save a few others along the way, but first, he'll have to save himself from the monsters trying to take his life.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm unsure about this story so any feedback will definitely help. I definitely don't want to just leave a fic unfinished, but this one may be a little more difficult to figure out. Suggestions for characters to see in this will also be appreciated (mainly class 1-A)

_He could see a figure through the thick fog around him. Her pale face made shivers run up his arms, dread beginning to take over his logical thinking. He had nowhere to run. A large wall of steel stopped him from escaping and her dark, shadowy figure kept him from running. With each step she took, a loud click echoed through the large room. He knew this would be his end if he didn't get up._

_The mirror had long been shattered. It was his only weapon but now, he was defenseless. What could he do now? He'd seen her magic before. He watched it snuff out the lights and it had nearly killed him just seconds before. She had gotten too close._

_She didn't speak as she approached. Her hands rested at her sides, mocking his helplessness. He wasn't a threat to her any longer. Her long Kimono covered her feet, making it seem as if she were floating above the creaking floor boards. The mannequins casted dark shadows through the smoke._

_Now, she stood just in front of him. His stomach began to growl, twisting and threatening to kill him with hunger. It was like a beast trying to claw its way outside. He had nothing around to satisfy that beast for just a little longer, not that he could even move._

_She used her magic to bring him to her height, darkness swirling around his body. It was suffocating. He struggled as best he could, but any movement made his stomach twist in pain. He wanted to curl up, just to ease a bit of that pain, but her magic kept him still. The fog began to thicken, swallowing them in shadow._

_Her right hand went to the white mask covering her face. It slowly, gently, untied the ribbon at the sides and as she shifted it to the side, her true face was revealed. It was difficult to see, but he could almost make out the basic features of her-_

Izuku woke up with a start. His heart pounded in his small chest, making his ribs ache with the pressure. The ache in his stomach had dulled to a low burn. It would always hurt, no matter how much he ate. Slowly, he starts to remember what's real and what isn't.

First, that was a dream. He's had plenty of them but he can never remember who exactly that woman is. He can only remember her from his nightmares, but it's all he's ever dreamt about since he was taken to this horrible ship.

Second, he's within the pipe system of the ship, that he knows. He had escaped the nurseries just yesterday and had decided to rest in the drain. His skin was riddled with goosebumps, making him shiver from the wet box he was still laying on and from the cool air circling around him.

Lastly, he remembered having made a small coat for himself out of the fabrics he found around the other children's beds. It was a bright green color, similar to the hair on his head. It helped with the coldness, but only by a little. His bare feet still curled from touching the metal of the vents, but he would manage. He had to, if he wanted to survive.

After checking for his lighter and making sure nothing living was around him -as unlikely as that would be, it was still a constant fear- he started on his mission again. He couldn't hear anything other than the occasional creaking of the boat and the drip of water next to him, so he started through the vent. It was just barely large enough for him to crawl through, making it difficult to hold his lighter safely. With two hands, he flipped open the cap of the lighter and pressed on the red tab, making the gas spark and ignite. The fire was always so beautiful in the darkness.

With a shaky nod to himself, he held the lighter with both hands and crawled through the vent. The shadows casted by his dull light made him anxious. Anything could come out from that vast darkness and just-

"Shut up!" Izuku half whispered to himself. He couldn't freak himself out now. That would only make him want to go back, though, that option was no less frightening. He wasn't sure what happened to those The Crawler took, but he was sure he didn't want to know. It had taken the white and red haired kid outside and never came back. No one it took returned. That's how it's been for longer than Izuku could remember. Then again, he couldn't remember very much past a few days.

The vent ended in an abrupt halt. He closed his lighter and looked over the edge. This room was a small bathroom, a stack of boxes just below where he knelt. He could probably make the jump without breaking anything, right? There were a few rolls of toilet paper as well, though he had no desire to carry anything so useless to him.

Slowly, he turned around and hung off of the edge of the vent, trying not to look down at the boxes below. If he bent his knees upon landing, it would absorb the shock. He could do this. "It's not that big of a jump. It's not that big of a-"

Izuku let go and landed on top of the boxes with a soft thud. It had been a shorter distance than he thought, but it still sent shrills up his legs. He needed more practice with landing, but that was alright. He checked for noises before continuing. The tile floor was cold, but not as cold as the vents had been. It was almost a nice difference, but nothing on this ship was ever nice.

His feet padded against the floor as he ran toward the next room. It looked like a shower room, but he didn't stay long enough to study it. His heart hammered with anxiety and he hid behind the door frame as soon as he made it to hardwood floors. When nothing happened, he took a long breath and forced himself to look around.

There was a door across from him, but the knob was too high up to reach. He could scoot a box under it, but if The Spider saw, it would know. It always seemed to know where he was. He looked above the door for more air vents and found an opening. Lucky for him, there were cages covering the wall to his left. He could easily climb up and crawl through the vent.

"One. two. One. Two." He chanted to himself as he climbed up the metal cages, trying not to think of the children that had likely been inside of them not too long ago. He could end up in one of them as well, if he wasn't careful.

Izuku had to stop climbing to shake the thoughts from his head and refocus. Now was not the time to think about failure. What was it that Iida always told him? If you keep telling yourself that you'll mess up, then you've made that decision final, right? Whatever it was, his friend was right. He couldn't think of failing now. With a new found determination, he continued to climb and eventually reached the top.

He didn't look down, knowing he'd get too anxious to continue. Instead, he straightened his shoulders and walked along the metal crates to the small vent opening. It wasn't completely aligned but he could jump to it. Rubbing his hands together, he readied himself to jump. If he slipped, he'd likely hurt something. "No. Stop that. I can do this." He whispered under his breath.

Izuku managed to make the jump, but as soon as he pulled himself up, the door below him opened. He didn't look to see what it was. He didn't have to. Instead, he continued forward, keeping a close ear for anything around him. The light was starting to dim, but a part of him was too scared to open his lighter. What if he accidentally dropped it and it made a sound? Could The Spider really reach him in there? Probably not, but it could follow him.

It took a lot of effort to force himself to open the lighter. As soon as he did, a rat scattered away, running down the pipe and squeaking loudly. He stopped, listened, then continued. The end of the tunnel didn't seem too far ahead. "I'm alright." He chanted. "I'm alright. I'm alright. Nothing can get me in here. Nothing can get me-"

Something shifted, just beyond the pipe. He jumped and nearly dropped his lighter. Sweat was already starting to run down his back as he heard it shift, stop, shift, stop. Peeking out of the pipe, he saw a light, open and casting a bright yellow light. It illuminated three different sections of the room just in front of him. There was a beam, casting a shadow in the light and a small figure in the middle of it, unmoving.

"How do I get…" He looked further for a way out, but found nothing. There must be some box or cage that he could-

Izuku fell out of the pipe, his lighter falling with him. He landed on his side, his knees knocking together and pain took over his entire body. He coughed and struggled to move. His lighter was just behind him. Slowly, he sat up, hissing at the pain shooting through his head and side. With a deep breath, Izuku reached toward his lighter, hoping nothing had broken inside.

The light shifted to him, casting a bright all around him. First, his eyes stung, then, his entire body began to freeze and numb over. He gasped and rolled over to his side, hugging the lighter close to his chest. The eye seemed to shrill at him, making him panic. His feet were going numb and he felt too heavy to move. What was happening to him?

The moment he made it back to the shadows, the sensation stopped. The numbness felt, letting the pain return, but it was a more comforting feeling. He was still alive. He could still escape.

Standing up on shaky legs, he looked around the room for a sign of direction. There was a shadowed area, on the opposite end of the room. From there, he could see a door with a stack of caged next to it. If The Spider had gone behind him, then that door should be cleared to go through. Looking back toward the main room, he saw the same small figure he'd seen before, but now, he could tell what it was.

Another child. No, he knew them, didn't he? Their hair stuck upward in several spikes but the colors were all dulled to a hard...stone color. Stone. That child had turned to stone. Dread started to flood his thoughts. Was that what the light did? It turned them to stone? Izuku struggled to take deep enough breaths and began feeling light headed.

"Bre-breathe." He gasped out. "Don't pass-pass out now. Just breathe." He relaxed as best he could, holding the lighter closer for something familiar to latch onto. He was okay. He was safe. He just...had to make sure to never get caught in the light again.

With a steadying breath, Izuku opened his eyes again and focused on a plan. The stone chi-figure was likely too small to hide behind but there were no boxes or cages to obscure the light. Maybe...there was a section of darkness in the back, closest to the eye on the wall. If he just snuck along the walls, then he should be safe, right? Right.

The light shined on the pillar he hid behind, making his hands shake, but the second it shifted away, he ran to the far wall, bare feet slapping against the wooden floor and ran across the room in shadows.

As he ran back toward the opposite end of the room, the light stopped it's patter and turned toward him again. It didn't catch his entire body this time, but his leg jolted from the light. The shrill started again and the limb went numb shockingly fast, but he got away before it could do more.

Izuku sat against the far wall, catching his breath and willing his heart to slow down. He could do this. This wouldn't be the hardest thing for him to do but he could still feel relieved to have survived that, right? He glanced back at the figure and felt that small relief wash away with sorrow. It had been one of the children from his nursery. Kirishima had been taken about a week ago and must've tried to escape as well. It wasn't completely unusual, but rare enough that the monsters around the ship weren't actively patrolling. He hoped he wouldn't see anyone else he knew dead.


	2. Chapter 2

Izuku found himself lost in the endless maze of rooms and vents. It seemed as if every room he ventured into lead to a whole new system of doors. It didn't help that The Spider had been on his tail since he escaped the nurseries and the longer he went without seeing it, the more his anxieties grew. Izuku had no way of telling time so deep in the ship, so he based the hours off of the noises he heard. He guessed that the water dropped from the shower heads about every second. He kept that steady beat in his heart, counting out minutes and sometimes hours. It was all he could do to clear his mind from the terrifying possibility of getting caught.

Rounding the corner to another room, Izuku found something new. There were no longer walls lined with empty cages or cold tile floors to walk across. No, this room had light wood floors and shelves. There wasn't much space to climb, since every space on the shelves was occupies with a book or jar. The lighting in the room was good enough to not need his lighter, but he kept it close, just in case. The wood floors were covered in a soft fabric, keeping the wood from creaking under his weight.

The room ended in a closed door, but he could likely find another vent opening if he climbed to the top of the book cases. Slowly, Izuku looked up and tries to evaluate the best plan for his climb up. The book cases were very tall and if he managed to loose his grip, he wouldn't be getting back up. If he didn't die from the fall, the sudden noise would attract someone who would finish the job. Izuku had to kneel down to stop his legs from shaking. "Calm down, Izuku." He whispered to himself. "You're not going to fall, alright? everything is going..." He sucked a long breath in and released it. "to be fine." Strapping his lighter onto his back with an old rubber band he'd found in one of the bathrooms, Izuku started his journey up the book case.

The wood was easy to grip, but there weren't many good places for him to put his feet. Instead, he relied mostly on his upper body strength, taking a good rest between each level. He hadn't been the strongest or tallest child in the nursery, that was for sure. Kirishima had likely been the strongest and Shoji was the tallest, but both boys were long gone. He could still hear Kirishima's encouragement any time one of them would become too stressed to sleep.

"It's gonna be okay." Izuku repeated the words to himself. "The Spider may look big and scary, but at least it can't see you. You'll be fine, just as long as you're quiet." The red haired kid would typically let whoever he was comforting to sleep in his bed that night, promising to fight off any ghosts that came up in the night. Izuku wondered who was helping them, now that Kirishima was gone. He would like to think that someone was helping out, at least a little. Maybe Iida or Yaoyorozu?

Izuku pulled himself onto the top of the book case and took a moment to catch his breath. His arms ached from pulling both him and his lighter all the way up, but he managed to do it. That meant something, right? He wasn't the silly little weakling Kacchan thought he was. He was strong. he'd gotten this far, hadn't he? yeah. He was strong.

The book shelves lead to a hall that he hadn't seen on the floor. It passed across the room in a T shape. There were more book shelves in both directions, but he didn't make a move to follow either just yet. A scraping sound caught Izuku's attention. It came from the right hall, below him. It was soft, likely because of the carpets on the floor, but it was getting louder. Izuku took the lighter off of his back and looked over the edge of the book case, carefully. He couldn't see anything suspi-

Hands. No, there were two arms as well. Izuku scrambled back against the closest wall and covered his mouth to keep his breathing even. Those were The Spider's limp arms. They dragged across the floor as the rest of it's body crawled along the ceiling, listening. The arms started to round the corner and he saw it in the dim light. A cluster of long, thin arms made small steps to push it's body along the ceiling, like a spider. It was fitting, considering it's name. The two arms that hung below were just as long, but they were somehow thinner, likely from lack of use. The Spider had a mask of flesh sagging off of it's dark skull. The mask swayed and wiggled with every step it took. The empty eye holes sent shivers up Izuku's spine. This wasn't good. It could easily just reach out and grab him.

His breathing grew heavier the more he tried to control it. The Spider stopped in the middle of the T, turning it's head both ways before going right toward Izuku. His heart beat out of his chest and he pressed his small body as close as it would go against the wall. He had nowhere to hide, no where to run. This was it. he was going to die here. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut to block The Spider out. Maybe, if he couldn't see it, then it wouldn't listen to him. He stopped breathing all together, just to stay quiet.

His lungs started to burn and he felt like he was going to faint, but those arms kept moving. A door opened and shut again. Izuku sucked in as much air as he could, coughing and gasping in his desperation. He opened his eyes, and The Spider was gone. His heart continued to beat so hard, he worried he'd have a heart attack. He wished that he had something to drink, or maybe to eat. He was still so hungry but there was nothing around to eat. He would have to force his disgust to the side and eat whatever thing he saw next, whether that be something living or not.

With his heart mostly settled and his lighter strapped onto his back again, Izuku continued along the tops of the book cases. Lucky for him, they lined up almost perfectly. He had had to jump across long gapes before and he doubted that he could manage something like that again with how tired he felt. There was no vent openings that he could see, so he walked along the ride side of the hall. He followed the book cases until he was at the end of the hall.

It was a trip to climb down, but he managed it. This part of the floor no longer had carpets along it and it creaked with every step he took. To his left, there was a large door, but he was more interested in the opening to the side of it. It looked like it was practically made for him. Slowly, Izuku walked toward it, hoping that his steps didn't echo too loudly. He heard a door open behind him, and he ran. The floor not only creaked, but his feet slapped against the hard wood with every step. The scrapping noise behind him grew louder and The Spider huffed and growled at him as it crawled faster. Izuku was so close to that small opening, but he made the mistake of looking back. The Spider was just a few steps behind. He nearly screamed right there, but somehow fought it down. He ran faster, his lighter jiggling uncomfortably against his back. He felt rough skin touch his ankle and he jumped through the opening, sliding to the other side without stopping.

Izuku held onto the strap across his chest for his lighter. It was still there. Good. The door handle jiggled and Izuku started running again. This room was filled with small cages and he scrambled to find one that was open. He climbed into the first one with an open door and closed it shut. There was no lock, but the cage would add some kind of protection, right?

The door opening and The Spider crawled forward in a fury. It grunted and growled as it felt along the floor and the walls, looking for him. Izuku felt like it could hear every movement he made. Like just the beating of his heart and the air he breathed in would give him away. Slowly, Izuku scooted away from the opening of the cage to give himself some more room, but the lighter clicked against the cold metal and The Spider came crawling forward. Another pair of arms started checking the wall of cages, ripping a few away from the wall with a loud bang and clatter. Izuku couldn't just sit there. It would find him.

A figure on the opposite wall waved at him from the darkness. Izuku looked closer, focusing on that figure as best he could and paused. He recognized them. More cages crashed to the floor, making him jump, but the figure didn't move. It waved again and Izuku knew that was his only way out. He dared to peek out of his cage, at The Spider. He wanted until it threw another cage, and he ran. The sound of the metal hitting the floor drowned his foot steps out completely. Izuku made it across the room without being detected.

The figure pulled in through the large door and shut it behind them after another cage crashed down. The thuds and crashed were much quieter from the other side of the door, but he could still hear them.

"What are you doing here?!" Izuku half whispered, a genuine smile slowly slipping onto his lips. It felt foreign, to smile.

"What do you mean?! What are you doing here?!" Iida shouted back, chopping the air with very word. "You're the one that escaped the nursery seven days ago and never returned! Everyone's been worried sick, so I came to find you!"

Izuku paused. They were worried? Shouldn't they have just assumed he was dead, like Kirishima? "Wait," Izuku started, realizing what Iida had said. "What do you mean, you came for me? Do you really think I'm going back there?"

Iida paused. "well...no. Honestly, we're lucky to still be alive as it is, and returning would only ensure our deaths." He tapped at his chin. Izuku took the time to notice the candle stick in the other boy's hand. Had he really been relying on a candle stick this whole time?

"Iida, I think there's a way out of this place, but I can't tell you right now. The Spider's still too close." Izuku whispered. The crashing had stopped a moment ago. Where would the monster search next?

"You're right." Iida spoke too loudly and Izku paniced. He pulled his friend away from the door and into the nearest vent he could find. They were safe in the vents.

Izuku sat on the cold metal and opened his lighter, illuminating the pipes in front of them. "As I was saying...I think there's a way out of here?"

"Out of the library?" Iida looked at him in a mixture of amazement and doubt.

"Out of the ship." Izuku clarified. "Think about it. They must be using us for something and it can't be for fuel. I've seen living things around here: rats, leeches and even gnomes. They have to be getting food from somewhere, and that food must be going somewhere else, right? I think that if we find food, then we can also find an exit."

Iida's amazement slowly drained into confusion. "I don't understand. How can you just assume that because there are rats, there has to be food?"

Izuku sighed and rubbed at his aching head. He was so hungry. Talking about food only seemed to make it worse, but he needed Iida on his side. He wouldn't do this alone. "Rats go where food it, right?" When Iida nodded, Izuku continued. "If there are rats on this ship, then there must be some source of food near by. If we find where that source is, then we can find a way out as well."

"That's the part I don't understand, though." Iida interrupted. "Who says that the food isn't for the people already on this ship? It wouldn't make sense for food to be produced on this ship and then sent away."

Izuku paused. That was true. He was kind of assuming where the food went, wasn't he? But it felt right. "I guess it doesn't really matter where the food goes, as long as we find it. If we get to a kitchen or processor of some kind, then we can judge where they're putting it all, right? But what if you're right? What if it doens't lead out? What if it just cycles back to us? Would they really mass produce food, just to end up starving us? It doesn't make sense. Where is it all goin-"

"Izuku, please focus." Iida whispered. Izuku froze and listened around. He was muttering to himself, wasn't he? At least he couldn't hear anything below them, but why was Iida whispering? He never whispered. It was a bit surprising to see that he'd survived this far. "I don't mean to scare you, but The Spider is still close by. We should continue to be careful of our volume as we progress through this ship." His whisper was much too loud for something like this, but Izuku knew that Iida was never a quiet person. He was a leader, someone who gathered and commanded people for their own safety. He was never stealthy. Izuku had always admired it.

Izuku nodded in agreement to what Iida had said and gathered his still lit lighter into is hands. They had a new goal in mind; to find the source of food. With growling stomachs and nothing but the company of the other, the two children started toward the end of the vent tunnel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can never figure out how to post only one chapter without it saying it's a complete story. If anyone has advice, please tell me. On a side note, Iida has joined the party!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I know it's been a while but I finally managed to get my computer back up to date and I'm ready to give you the chapters you deserve! And, an extra long chapter for the wait!

"Alright. Iida, Truth or dare?" Izuku spoke quietly as he could. They were safe for now, enough so that the two felt comfortable talking in soft voices as they walked down the pipe line. They had decided to start a little game of Truth or Dare to lighten the mood as they followed the pipe forward.

"I would say truth again, but considering this is the seventh time I've said it, I'll go with dare this time." The taller child states matter-of-factly. Izuku never understood why Iida was such a...straight forward person. He said what he meant and only meant what he said. He had been a bit of a nuisance back at the nursery, but now, Izuku couldn't have asked for a better person to walk with him. Although Iida was nearly blind and much too loud for a mission like this, he was fast and resourceful. The boy had likely chosen to stick with his dirty shirt and pants for this mission in order to stay that way. Why waste materials that could get in the way of his running?

"I dare you to touch the wall." Izuku responded. It was a weak dare, but the last time someone had chosen a riskier consequence, they had been taken out of the room and ever returned. Izuku still wondered where Sero was to this day, but a part of him never wanted to know. It had taken a while for them to convince Kaminari that it wasn't his fault the boy was taken and he never really played the game with them again.

A light tapping on the pipe made Izuku stop, causing the boy behind him to nearly push both of them over. Izuku sat on the floor of the pipe, pushing his small ear against the cold metal to listen. Iida knelt beside him, about to ask a question, but another tapping stopped him. Both boys froze in place. It was coming from further down the pipe. When the tapping grew in frequency and volume, Izuku stood up again and pulled out his lighter. He clicked it on and held it out in front of them as a poor excuse for defense. The moment he saw anything, they would run.

Izuku's palms began to sweat as he held the lighter out. It was getting closer. Should they just run now? But what if it's just a rat? How could they follow the creatures if they ran away from them? But...what if it was something worse? He's never seen The Spider try to reach into a pipe before, but that doesn't exactly mean it won't happen. The pipes were wide enough to fit it's thin fingers and if it got a good grasp on Izuku's jacket or Iida's shirt, they were done. A hand came into Izuku's peripheral vision and he nearly screamed when it clapped onto his mouth, shushing his muttering. He looked back at Iida, who was giving him a stern look.

Neither boy got the chance to communicate anything before a shadowy figure appeared in front of them. Izuku felt his feet leave the floor as strong arms pulled him up and they bolted, the lighter still held in the smaller boy's hands. The figure followed them back through the pipe, but as it grew closer, Izuku began to make out it's shape. The thing was small and shaped like...a cone? Realization hit him and he began patting at Iida's shoulder, pulling his attention. The taller boy slowed into a stop turning back toward the figure that Izuku was now pointing at.

It was a small gnome. They were rare to see in the nursery but every so often, one would find it's way inside. The others loved to play with them, exchanging hugs and throwing them into the air to catch this thing or that. They were shy creatures and rightfully so, though they always seemed to take well to the other children. No one dared to try and take off their little fabric hats, but a few of them would stay up late wondering what lie underneath. Did they have sharp little teeth to defend themselves with? Did they have a head of fuzzy hair like most of the children? Were their hats actually a part of their body? Nobody knew, but the theories kept the fear away at least.

Izuku knelt down next to the gnome and offered his hand, letting it take it's time to move forward. The gnome didn't inch toward him like most would, this one ran up to him and nuzzled into his shoulder. Izuku stared at the creature for a few moments before giving it a quick hug. It's body was small but slightly round. Their little limbs would usually hand down as they hugged, but this one held onto his jacket tightly. He's never seen this before. "Are you scared, little guy?" Izuku asked but didn't get a response. He didn't expect one, already knowing that the gnomes likely couldn't talk.

"This is very strange behavior for a gnome." Iida remarked. "Usually, they only come to you after you've chased it for a hug. Do you think this one had gotten into the nursery at one point and remembers us?" The blue haired boy gave Izuku a questioning look. Izuku only shrugged in response. His guess was as good as anyone's. Although they've played with the gnomes before, they were still very mysterious creatures. In a way, they fit perfectly into this world. Nothing about their lives had ever made much sense and changes always occurred. That's how Izuku got here in the first place.

"I'm not sure, but maybe we could bring it with us. You never know what kind of use they can serve, especially outside. I've seen a few levers hanging around here and moving boxes can give us some unwanted attention." Izuku set the gnome down again and stood up straight. The tip of it's little hat reached just below his chin, giving him a good view of the grey fabric. It looked old and wrinkled, but it was no different from any other gnome's hat. A part of him was expecting to see more hints about the strange behavior.

"I recommend we continue our journey, Izuku. The sooner we get moving, the faster we can find ourselves some food." Iida stepped around them, now leading their little parade. Izuku grimaced from the reminder of his hunger but followed after the other boy. He hoped that they would find some food soon.

...

The end of the pipe led into a large room filled with dark grey fabrics of all shapes and sizes. There were shelves upon shelves of the stuff and some of it was even stored on the ground. As Izuku climbed down the shelves and landed safely onto the fabric covered ground, he instinctively looked for hiding places or exits. The only real exit he could find was the hall in front of him, the door behind him and the pipe they just climbed out of. If anything were to walk through that door, then their only chance would to be running down the hall or hoping the fabrics on the shelves work as a good enough hiding spot. The latter seemed less likely, given how small the openings in the shelves were. They wouldn't have the easiest time trying to squeeze through those little gaps.

Iida didn't speak as he signaled to go forward. Izuku followed with the gnome by his side. A small hand grabbed onto the fabric of his jacket and he looked down at the creature. It was shaking. Izuku didn't want to stop now, given how vulnerable they were out in the open, but the gnome looked so scared. "Hey, it's alright." Izuku whispered to it. "You're safe with us. Don't worry." They both knew it was a lie.

The gnome didn't stop shaking, but it did walk with them down the hall, looking at the seemingly endless shelves on either side of them. Izuku kept one hand over his mouth as he wondered what the fabrics were used for. Was it for their clothes? No one in the nursery really remembered getting them, but they weren't all the same dull grey like the rolls of cloth were. Maybe it was for something else? He couldn't be sure.

Just as he was about to question further, he felt the hard muscle of Iida's back hit is face, knocking him over. Izuku gasped as he fell, landing on his back side. The gnome fell beside him, it's little body making a second thud sound. The confusion from the impact fell away when Izuku heard a sniffling growl above them. He froze, his heart beginning to beat one hundred miles an hour. Slowly, Izuku looked up and saw The Spider hanging off of the ceiling, it's arms drooping in front of them. Iida turned around and grabbed Izuku's arm, pulling him up and away from The Spider. The monster sniffled again, it's hand grabbing onto chunks of the ceiling as it crawled after them, a pair of arms extending toward them.

Izuku stumbled as he struggled to follow Iida's pace, the taller boy running much faster than him. The gnome seemed to have no issue catching up to Iida, leaving the green haired child behind. The lighter clicked and bounced with every step Izuku took, making his lungs work harder. His blood pumped adrenaline into his veins as he watched shelves pass by in a blur. He panted out every breath in an attempt to just keep up with the other two.

The gnome tripped, falling on the floor. Izuku nearly stopped, but the iron grip on his arm kept him moving forward. He looked back and watched The Spider stop in front of the gnome. It tried to get up, but those horribly long fingers wrapped around it's thin body like vines. The grey creature was lifted into the air and held up to The Spider's drooping face, only held on by a few threads on it's chin. Izuku's body was pulled to the side, falling next to Iida. They were behind a shelf, hiding from the horrible monster trying to kill them, but Izuku wanted to see. He wanted to see the gnome wiggle out of the hands of The Spider and run away to safety. But, as Izuku leaned over the edge of the shelf, only half of his face peeking out to look, what he saw was much worse.

The Spider ripped away the gnome's little hat, the small thing falling onto the ground in a crumpled mess. What lie underneath was hard to see, but that heterochromatic hair stuck out like a flashlight in the darkness. It was red and white. red and white.

Izuku didn't get the chance to see anything else before his body was pulled into a crack in the wall. He heard a pained squeal before droplets splattered on the floor. The gnome was gone.

Iida pushed a wooden box in front of the crack and sat against it. Izuku didn't move from where he laid on the floor, the cold tile of a shower room making the hair on his neck stand up.

Red and white hair.

It was impossible. It had to be. The only person he had ever known with that hair color was...gone. He was taken by The Spider and never came back. So, it was impossible for that gnome to be...Todoroki.

What other monsters lie inside of this...what other horrors did the children meet? The ones who were taken? Suddenly, Izuku felt his mouth fill with a bitter taste but only bile came up. There was nothing else left in his stomach.

Izuku let his eyes shift toward Iida, who was still siting against the box. Their eyes met for a moment but neither of them spoke. After a moment, Iida got up again and knelt next to Izuku, a question in his eyes. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you anywhere?" The boy asked with a concerned look. Izuku just shook his head. The Spider hadn't touched him. Todoroki, on the other hand...

"I think..." Izuku started. "I think that the others...something bad happened to them." A lump formed in the back of his throat and it made breathing difficult. A warm hand on his back helped him to sit up, but the goose bumps didn't go away.

"I thought that was what we all assumed." Iida gave him a curious look. He always knew that Izuku meant more than he said. He was a thinker by nature but learned to keep most of his ideas to himself, especially when Kacchan was around.

"No. I think it's worse than enslavement. It's...that gnome had hair under it's hat." Izuku felt tears threaten to spill. His sniffing echoed through the tile walls. At least they were alone in here.

"Izuku, what did you see?" Iida's eyes held a mixture of fear and concern. This would ruin things. Izuku already knew that much. Some ideas that he had...they made others upset. Ignorance to the world around them made living in it a little less difficult, but Izuku always brought the cold hard truth. That's why Kacchan hated him. "What did you see back there?" Iida repeated himself. He wanted to know.

They weren't in the nursery anymore. Ever second mattered, which meant that they needed to know everything they could about these mysteries. Iida couldn't live in ignorance anymore. Their short time of safety was over. "Iida, I think that gnome was Todoroki. Someone must've changed him. I don't know how or why, but-" Izuku sucked in a shaky breath. His tears were the only warmth he got. "Someone in here is changing them. The ones that got taken. Todoroki probably wasn't the only one. Shoji, Sero, Asui, even Kacchan. They could all be gnomes."

Iida gave him a mixed look before turning away. He was trying to think it over. Let it sink in. Convince himself that this wasn't all a lie. Izuku knew this, because he had been trying to do the same thing ever since he left. This place wasn't meant to raise them. It was meant to farm them, but Izuku still didn't know what for. Why would they keep nurseries of children like them? What was their purpose? And who was the one in charge?

Both boys jumped when they heard a splash, water raining down onto the tile. Iida shot up and Izuku crawled back to the box. It came from one of the toilets on the wall. Izuku looked for more exits but none were easily accessible. Both doors on either side of the long room were closed and possibly locked. There were no pipes along the ceiling that they could climb into and the small window on their right was too high to jump up to. Their only real means of defense would be to either move the box and risk going back into the hall -that could kill them for sure- or to pray that one of the doors was open.

Another splash sounded from the furthest right toilet and more water fell out of the rim. Iida's hand landed on Izuku's shoulder, both waiting for the signal to run, when a head popped out. Izuku felt relief wash over his body like cold water and he sighed out all of the air in his lungs. It was Asui.

The small girl climbed out of the toilet and landed on the floor, her clothes and hair dripping with water. She gave them a bright but tires smile, walking toward them with a bit of a hop in her step. She had always been a strange one, preferred to spend her time running her fingers through her green hair and tying it into strange shapes. Now, her hair was mostly down with the ends all tied together in a little bow. How she did that was beside Izuku, but the familiarity made his heart sing. He found another person that wasn't dead.

"How did you guys get out?" She asked with a soft croak. Her voice sounded as if it hadn't been used for a long time. Her clothes were a darker blue color, making her pale skin pop out. Her feet were bare like the rest of them and she didn't have any form a light with her. She must've not had the same luck they did. She didn't shiver from the cold water, a surprise in itself.

"I could be asking you the same thing. Last we saw of you, you were back in the nursery." Iida remarked, giving her a smile but not offering a hug. Either of them getting wet could easily freeze them to death.

"After Izuku left, The Spider began taking two at a time, so I decided to try my own escape. I'd rather freeze to death than willingly go with that monster." She said it so casually that it was almost funny.

"Asui, it's so good to see you again." Izuku sighed out.

"You'd think by now you'd remember to call me Tsu." She grumbled, but her irritated look didn't last long. They were all too happy to see each other to really be upset. "I decided to flush myself down the drain. I have to say, it wasn't the best idea. I almost drowned a few times and...the sewers aren't exactly pest free, but I managed.

Now concerned, Izuku tilted his head. "You really risked drowning just to get away?" She had a form of bravery that he had never known. Most of the others did, in fact.

"It beats getting locked away in a cage. But let me tell you, there are some real monsters down there." Her expression turned serious. "I think there are more monsters than just The Spider. When I was down there, I saw some kind of water zombie. I think he acts as a guardian of some kind for that area. You know, in case we escape."

Izuku felt his smile fall into a look of fear. More monsters? It could make sense, but that isn't good news for them. The Spider alone is difficult to get past. He can't imagine why there would be so many creatures around to stop them from leaving though. What are they being used for? Why are they so valuable? Or is it something they don't want us to figure out? Izuku stopped his muttering when he felt a wet hand land on his arm. He shivered from the contact alone and shook her hand off. She was so close!

"I also found some other things down there, but I think we should talk about it somewhere else. I don't feel too comfortable just sitting here." Asui-Tsu gestured toward the door and Iida nodded in agreement. They can't stay put for too long. Who knows where The Spider is or how quickly it can make it between the hall to this shower room. With a nod of his own, Izuku leads them toward the door. There are more mysteries to this place than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really do appropriate the wait and I'm so glad you guys support me! I love you guys!


	4. Chapter 4

There was more fabric in several other halls and rooms that the three went into. At first, they had just assumed it was another thing that whoever ran this place kept stored away, like the rolls of toilet paper and books. Their minds began to chance, however, when they came into a certain room.

There was no door leading in. If anything, it was more of an extension to the hall next to it, but in the back of this room was a work station. Around it were walls upon walls of small cages and fabric was draped across the floor in seemingly random patterns. There was a door on the far side, but it was closed and likely locked. No pipes to escape out of, but there was a small window with some kind of rope leading out. Izuku was too small to see what all was on the work desk, but there was more fabric up there. There were a few tools hanging in front of the desk and even if he could barely see them, he could tell that they weren't for anything good.

"What are those things?" Izuku asked in a soft voice, pointing to the top of the desk. Iida and Tsu both looked to where he was pointing but returned their attention to him in confusion.

"I'm not sure." Iida replied. "I can't see much from all the way back here. It's too blurry."

Izuku couldn't seem to turn his gaze away from them. Those were sharp looking objects. "And there's some cloth up there too. Wha...what do you think they do here?"

"Why don't we look?" Tsu stuck her tongue out a bit as she spoke. "We could just climb up there, right? The cages will give us a good enough hand hold." She was already heading toward the far wall before she finished speaking. Iida stops her before she can reach them.

"Tsu, let me. Your hands are still wet and if you aren't careful, you could fall." The other boy didn't move until she gave him an approving nod. Izuku hadn't even thought of that and given how exposed they were in this area, having Tsu fall wouldn't be good for anyone. The only concern he had was that Iida was blind as a bat. The boy could barely see two feet in front of him and he'd need some time to tell what was even up there.

He looked back at the hall, checking if The Spider -or any other unwanted creatures- but saw nothing. They had been able to avoid The Spider for a while now, but it always put him on edge. It had been too long for him to tell where it was anymore. It filled him with dread every time he check their surroundings, but he'd rather watch for any possible threats then let them all die. He already knew that he couldn't do this alone. He might've had the idea to follow the rats to food, but it was Iida's sharp planning and speed that got them away last time. Besides, what was the point in getting out alone? The others would still be trapped in the nursery, oblivious to the things they've already learned about this place.

Izuku was brought out of his thoughts when Iida announced that he had made it onto the desk. He was difficult to see now, but Izuku could just make out the top of his head. Tsu stood next to him, trying to stand on the tips of her toes to see him at all. She likely couldn't. She had always been so much shorter than the rest of them, but she was no less clever. What she lost in height was obviously made up in a bold personality and need to help others.

"What do you see, Iida?" She asked, raising her voice slightly so the other boy could hear. Izuku winced at that, but kept from shivering. It would be alright. They needed to communicate and he'd already looked down the hall.

"It's hard to say. All of these objects are strange and unfamiliar to me. There is a pair of scissors, though. They don't look too dirty either." The boy's head disappeared for a moment as he likely looked closer. "Yes, they're clean."

That was a relief. The last thing Izuku needed was for The Spider to have some kind of weapon to use against them. It didn't last long, however, because moments later, Iida was speaking again.

"There are several layers of fabric here...but I don't think they're making clothes out of them." He spoke in a grim tone. "There are spots on some of them. They're dark and smell a lot like blood. Maybe, we could-"

Iida didn't get the chance to finish. The door on the side of the room opened wide. Long arms reached into the area and latched onto the ceiling as it dragged a body with it. Tsu grabbed Izuku's hand and the two of them ran behind a nearby cage. They tried to control their breathing as they listened to The Spider sniffle and grunt from the noise. It heard them. It had to have.

A scream sounded just in front of them. Izuku's heart beat faster and faster until he thought that he might faint. They left Iida up there, with The Spider. No, he had to fix this. He couldn't let it get Iida. Standing up, Izuku stepped to go toward the desk but Tsu caught him just before he could. She didn't speak, but he could tell that she was scared by the tears in her eyes. She was shaking uncontrollably as Iida screamed again, more muffled this time. Izuku wanted to stay, he wanted to so badly, but every bone in his body ached to save Iida. This was his fault and he couldn't just let their best friend die.

Tsu didn't release him, though, but she didn't need to. It was already too late. Izuku watched in a horror as The Spider grabbed Iida with both hands, checking over his body with a disturbing amount of interest before his shoved him down onto the desk. The arms connected to the cieling stretched to let it's body down lower, giving it full access to the desk. It was difficult to see past the creature, but the noises were enough. As The Spider's hand left Iida's upper body, his screaming and shouting became louder. The boy sounded so terrified, his throat likely ripping itself raw from how hard he was screaming.

With a sickly gentle touch, The Spider picked up the pair of scissors Iida mentioned seeing and cut off a piece of fabric. Izuku's heart leapt ever time those blades got even close to Iida, but it never touched him. Once the scissor were put away, The Spider picked up the fabric and began folding it over Iida's still struggling body. Wet, fat tears hit Izuku's hand as he watched. He was shaking just as badly as Tsu now, if not worse.

Like it had done this millions of times, it folded piece after piece over Iida's body until his screams were muffled. Then, it tied him up with a thick thread, something that Iida likely hadn't seen before. It looked too tight around his body and made Izuku want to be sick again. He had to stop it, but he couldn't. He couldn't fight that thing! He was hopeless!

The Spider attacked a little hook onto the end of the bundle and put it onto the rope above it's head. When had that been there? The Spider rang a little bell to the side of it and then the rope began to move, carrying Iida's body with it. It was a poly system, running across the ceiling like a clothes line and it was sending Iida somewhere else. Somewhere that they couldn't go.

In a burst of confidence, Izuku jerked his leg away from Tsu's hold and ran. The Spider sniffled again, looking right at him and growled. He didn't stop, though. He couldn't let Iida get away from him. As Izuku ran, two arms reached out for him, ready to grab, but they never landed. A rock flew from behind him and hit The Spider's hands away. The creatures make a sickening screech as it pulls it's hands away, rubbing them where the rock had landed.

The distraction allowed Izuku enough time to climb the wall of cages, waiting for Iida's still wiggling body to pass by until he jumped. He managed to grab the thread in the last moment and held on tight. Risking a glance back, he saw The Spider going after where Tsu was standing next to the cage. She was shaking, crying and so obviously scared, but she had a fury in her eyes that he had never seen before. She held another rock up high, as if threatening to hurt it again, but The Spider payed no mind to it. Just as Izuku passed through the small window, he saw Tsu's body get snatched in long fingers.

More tears landed onto the filthy cloth as he watched his surroundings change drastically. Outside of the window was a long gap of nothingness. There were a few wooden planks meters and meters below them, but beyond them was just black mist. It could go on forever. With a brand new sense of fear, Izuku held tighter onto the cloth. If he fell, he would likely die.

"Iz-u?!" Iida's voice shouted from inside. "I- at -u?!"

"Don't worry, Iida." Izuku whimpered. "I'll get you out of there." With one leg settled into one of the thread loops, Izuku began to slowly pull at the bindings with one hand. He wouldn't let it slip completely. That would only make both of them fall. He made sure to watch the tightness of the thread as he tried to untie it, but the knot was too tight. Adjusting his position, Izuku leaned further on the loop his leg was in and tried again. The moment his leg moved, the thread pulled loose. Izuku gasped in a cold breath as he began to fall, a scream ripping through his throat. He saw it in slow motion. The threat he had put his leg through was just the end piece tucked into the rest of the bindings.

Izuku began to fall faster and faster, fear over taking him as he watched Iida get carried higher and higher. Further and further away from him. His back hit the lighter, which hit one of the wooden planks. It knocked the wind out of his lungs and send him spiraling down as it broke apart upon impact. He hit another and then another. Izuku wasn't awake to feel the last hit.

...

Izuku woke up with a soft groan. His entire body hurt, badly. As he tried to get up, his hand hit something soft but it was gone before he could register it. Izuku hissed again as a sharp pain flared through his back and he fell onto the rocks once again. Wait...rocks?

It took a moment, but Izuku eventually managed to open his eyes and look around him. He was in a dark area but the smell of coal was distinct. Breathing it in made him cough roughly, which only irritated his soar throat further. Wincing, Izuku made another try at sitting up. This time, he was able to get fully on his feet. His lighter was at the bottom of the pile, black scratch marks completely covering it. With a soft gasp, he half slid half walked down the pile and retrieved his lighter, clicking it on.

There wasn't much to the room around him. It was filled with piled upon piles of coal and every other part of it was marked with the black dust. He coughed again and looked for an exit. He didn't know where he was or what else might be down there. For all he knew, there were worse monsters that just The Spider lurking around.

Thankfully, the door was open and inside, he saw much of the same thing, but this time, there was a mine cart and a small lantern in the corner as well. Izuku limped slightly as he walked, wondering how on earth he would get out of this place. Although there were likely rats hanging around, he doubted that he was anywhere close to the food. As if on cue, Izuku's stomach growled painfully. It squeezed his insides until he was kneeling, waiting for the sudden nausea to go away. Slow, even breaths kept him steady as it slowly passed.

He had to get something to eat and soon. He hadn't exactly kept a solid list of days he had gone without food but it must've been over a week or two. He had been wondering around this place endlessly for much too long.

The long row of rooms all slowly lead into one last one -or at least, he assumed it was the last one- that had much less coal. Instead, there were shovels and even a few shoes lying around. The door was closed and he couldn't jump up to the knob from his height either. Looking around, Izuku spotted movement out of the corner of his eye and flinched hard.

He stared at the box that he had thought moved for a long time. Izuku slowly made his way toward it, his lighter held out defensively. If something reached out for him, he would burn it and run. He didn't think about the fact that he was trapped in these rooms, however.

The box was overturned and shook slightly as he approached. There was something underneath it. Izuku ran through a list of things he had seen that could fit under it and the list was fairly short. Leeches, gnomes and rats. Only one of those options were actually good and it wasn't the gnomes. As kind as they could be, they wouldn't lead him to food. He needed rats right now and with his lighter, he could avoid getting bitten by one fairly easily.

As Izuku overturned the box, he saw a white little hat skitter away but it didn't get far. Now seeing that it wasn't a leech, he dove forward and grabbed the gnome tightly in his arms, his lighter falling onto the floor in the rustle of the action. He could throw this little guy up to turn the knob for him but in order to do that, he had to befriend it. After a moment, the gnome stopped resisting and finally feel limp in his hold. Izuku set it down again and as he picked up his lighter, the gnome watched him curiously.

It followed him as he walked toward the door. It's little hat had soot marks too, but they still didn't hide how brightly colored the creature was compared to the dirty walls and floor around it. Izuku deliberately tried not to think about what he had learned earlier from the last gnome they met and stood in front of the door. Whether this was one of this past friends for not, it was still just a gnome. Once the little creature was in place, Izuku picked it up again and threw it up to the door knob. It was the hardest throw he could manage with his hurt body but it still wasn't enough. The gnome fell back onto the ground with a little thud but got right back up.

Izuku sucked in a deep breath that made him cough out due to the pain in his back. Once the fit was over, he sighed and picked up the gnome again, throwing it a little to the left this time. Just when he thought the creature would slip again, it managed to hold on and turned the knob. Izuku pulled on the gnome's feet to get the door open and in came an overwhelming gust of hot air.

The next room was looked like a furnace room. Izuku shivered from the sudden temperature change as he walked in. The heat on his feet was almost scolding compared to how cold his toes were just moments before. As he went further in, he saw a wooden ramp leading up to the main furnace, the machine glowing with red and yellow heat. Just next to the furnace was a group of other gnomes surrounded by...wait! Was that Koda?!

Izuku ran forward, ignoring the increase of heat and stood in front of the other child. The gnomes around him fled behind the boy, who looked up at Izuku and smiled wide once he recognized him. This was Koda. They hadn't seen him when the boy disappeared one night but they all sort of assumed he got taken by The Spider. The boy was bigger in size, even bigger than Iida, but his clothes were still loose on his body. He worse a pair of dark shorts with an dirty, over sized shirt. He was an outrageously shy kid that only ever talked through his little hand signs, but he understood what everyone else said just fine. His hair was styled back and flipped out near his neck, letting Izuku see his whole face. That was a rare thing in the nursery. Most of them preferred to have longer hair that covered their faces. Momo said it confused The Spider.

"It's been so long since I last saw you! What are you doing here?!" Koda signed excitedly. His gnomes looked at Izuku but seemed to accept that he wasn't a threat and relaxed.

Izuku laughed awkwardly, wondering just how much Koda really needed to now. "It's been...a lot. I escaped a little while ago and...well, ended up here." He didn't want to mention how he had let Iida and Tsu die just for him to end up at the bottom of whatever place this was. He wasted their lives on himself. How could he forgive himself for that?

Koda seemed to understand that it was a harder topic and nodded sadly. "I tried running away too, but I fell down a coal shoot and ended up here." Izuku looked around again and noticed another poly system going up too high for him to see. It wasn't moving, however.

"What does that lead to?" Izuku asked, pointing to the buckets on the rope. It looked much more secure than the one that took Iida was. He could probably stand inside one of those buckets if he wanted.

Koda shrugged. "I've never dared to go up there. Once you go up, you can't get back down." When Izuku gave him a concerned look he smiled softly and signed. "There aren't monsters down here. I'll stay down here as long as I can."

He didn't like the idea of that. As safe as this small area may be, there could always be unknown dangers. If it wasn't The Spider, then it was something else. He didn't know how far down Tsu went, but there was another monster down there too. And monsters aren't the only threat to staying in one place. "What about food and water? You can't just let yourself starve to death down here."

Koda shook his head and pointed to a ladder that lead up to a second level. "There are buckets of water over there and..." The boy looked at his large foot as he signed the next part. "I was able to chew on a few bugs but...if I comes to it, there are always gnomes."

Oblivious to what the boy just said, the gnomes huddled closer. It made Izuku feel all kinds of wrong, but it made sense. Koda was never a survivor like he was and once he had found somewhere that would provide him with life for at least a little while, he was going to settle. It wasn't cowardly. It was smart. Izuku should've stayed there too, but he couldn't. He wasn't there to live out his life eating bugs -or gnomes. He was there to find a way out of this place. He was there to find an end to this madness.

In that moment, Izuku understood that he and Koda stood on opposite sides. The boy may help him, but he wouldn't be leaving this are. If they were lucky, they wouldn't meet ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I an really loving this story so far. It's amazing to write and it helps me to practice action scenes. I was going to add one of the 1-B students with Koda, but that felt kind of complicated, since Izuku likely wouldn't know who they even were. The kids probably don't leave the nursery very much, if at all. Also, after this chapter, we'll be moving onto a whole new part of this story, so to speak. I think you'll enjoy it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that Koda's signing isn't in italics when I transfer my writing onto this website and was kinda upset but I guess it still works out fine.

"I kinda get how these coal furnaces work." Koda signed as he pointed to the large pile of black rocks near the corner of the room. "The gnomes take the coal from the pile, dump it into the fire and then the polys start moving. From there, you can jump onto a bucket and ride it out of here."

Izuku nodded in understanding. That sounded like a simple enough plan, but there was one problem. "How do you know that's how it works if the buckets aren't moving right now?" He looked toward the taller boy in question. "Were they moving before?"

Koda nodded to the question and raised his hands to sign again. "Yes, but that was when there were more gnomes working. Ever since I came here, some of the little guys have been getting lost or running away. Now, there aren't enough to power the system." The boy looked at the few gnomes remaining with a sad expression. Izuku looked as well and couldn't help but feel uneasy at the suggestion of that. It was kind of like the nursery. Every so often, someone would be taken and no one would return to fill their spot. Eventually, almost everyone was gone, either to find someone who had gotten lost or because of The Spider.

"So, you're saying that if I can find more gnomes, then I'll be able to leave?" Izuku asked softly. He had no idea where to go to find these creatures, if he even could. There was no doubt in his mind that a few of the missing gnomes were dead, but maybe there were enough lost ones that he could power the furnace. At least, he hopes there were. If he couldn't get out of here using the buckets, than he'd have to find a way to climb out.

"I saw a few of them just back the way you came. They like to hide in boxes or behind large things." Koda pointed toward the door to their left. "If you can't find any that way, then you could try looking up stairs as well. I've heard some noises from up there and they could very well be a few gnomes."

Standing up, Izuku wiped the sweat from his forehead and headed back toward the left door. He knew there was nothing bad back there -at least, he was fairly certain- and it was close enough to the furnace room that if he needed any real help, he could always come back and get Koda. Walking through the large doorway, Izuku saw more piles of dark coal and resisted the urge to sneeze, there was dust everywhere and the room was significantly colder than the last, but the change in temperature was more welcoming than anything. He enjoyed sitting in the furnace room to get warmth back into his system after so long of crawling through freezing pipes or walking across cold water, but the heat was a bit too much after a long period of time.

Pulling out his lighter, Izuku walked further into the room and looked at the large objects across the room. There was some kind of metal cart to the side of a coal pile but when he pulled himself up the side of it to look, there was nothing there. He tried the wooden crates next, pulling the side of the box open with his hands. The old, rusted nails didn't give way easily and once they finally let up, Izuku feel onto his back. He panted softly as he pushed the plank off of his small body and raised his lighter to look inside of the box. Standing in the far corner was a gnome, it's hat laying to the side of it's pale body.

Izuku got a good look at the gnome's face this time. Before, with Todoroki, he was barely able to see much of anything beside the white and red hair. Now, he could pick out a few facial features, but none of them seemed very similar to his. The creature had small, black eyes that stared at him in fear. It's mouth was nothing more than a long cut just below it's nostrils. This gnome had a full head of black hair that was tied up into a messy pony tail. The style of the pony tail reminded Izuku of someone, but he couldn't quite place who. The familiarity made his skin crawl, knowing that this could possibly be someone he knew before something horrible happened to them.

"I'm here to help you." Izuku spoke softly but confidently. The gnome didn't move and that was better than it trying to run away from him. Taking a slow step forward, Izuku reached out his hand, offering it to the gnome. The closer he got, the more he could see from the light of his small flame. This gnome wasn't very small compared to the others, but it wasn't the largest he'd seen. The largest had been a dirty gnome that happened upon the nursery not long after Sato disappeared.

Izuku paused to think about that. Sato was one of the very tallest of the children, even taller than Iida. He had a love for soft things and often tried to make fun things out of the food they were given. He had once mixed a few peas into a bowl and a tasty paste. The large gnome that came around after Sato's escape had seemed interested in their food as well, but they just thought it was because he was hungry. Knowing what he did now...that gnome could've very well been their friend.

Looking at the gnome in front of him, Izuku tried to think through everyone he knew from the nursery and wondered if this is one of them as well. He saw Kirishima in the eye room before, so it couldn't be him. Shoji, Kaminari and Ojiro didn't have black hair, so it couldn't be them. Jiro was taken away by The Spider and Izuku had a pretty good idea of what happened to those children based on Iida's capturing. The only other person he could think of was...Momo?

Izuku looked at the gnome again and things began to connect. Dark hair with the pony tail that Momo always seemed to have. A rounder body -at least for a gnome- that defined his old friend's body almost perfectly. He remembered her leaving by a mistake. Kacchan had bragged about finding a cool pipe that lead out of the nursery and unfortunately, when Tsu's favorite blanket fell down that pipe, Momo went to get it. The pipe was a strong slope downward and the edges were just wet enough for her to slip all the way down. No one heard a sound after her scream finished echoing down the metal tube and for a safety measure, Iida placed a large box in front of the opening to avoid any others falling down it.

Momo must've gotten caught by whatever turned the children into gnomes as she wondered around outside of their nursery. Izuku shook his head to clear his thoughts at long last and reached out for the little creature once again. "I'm Izuku. I don't know if you remember me, but we used to be really good friends. Well, you were closer to Tsu and Iida, but they're...gone now." The gnome didn't respond, not that he expected it to, really. He took another step forward and didn't miss the way Momo flinched. "Hey, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."

All at once, the gnome stood up sharply and bolted toward the open end of the box. It grabbed it's hat on the way out and Izuku just barely reached out in time to catch it. He pulled the small gnome toward his chest and hugged it until he felt the creature relax. After holding the hug for a few seconds longer, Izuku let go and checked the gnome one last time. It seemed fine now, happy even, after the hug. Nodding his head, Izuku turned around and crawled back out of the box.

...

By the time Izuku had made it to each part of the mines, -without going too far into the dark tunnels and pathways- he had managed to gather up a fairly large group of gnomes that willingly follow him back to the furnace room. None of the others had their pointed hat off when he found them and honestly, a part of him didn't even want to check if any of this other friends have turned into gnomes. He kept a close eye on Momo out of sentimental reasons but nothing more. She didn't seem to recognize him anymore, not like Todoroki did at least. A part of him wanted to tell Koda about them, to let him know exactly what was going on around this house of terror, but the taller boy's earlier comment keeps him silent.

Once Koda ran out of things to eat, he'd be forced to kill those gnomes. There was no real way around it. If he wanted to stay here, where it'd be safe from the monsters outside, then he'd need to kill things that he may not ever want to kill in a different situation. Hunger did strange things to people.

When Izuku walked into the furnace room again, his feet burned at the sudden change in temperature but he welcomed it. The other rooms hadn't been too cold, but after so long inside of them, he had developed a few chills. As he headed toward the pile of coals, the gnomes began to work as if they had never left. Koda greeted him with a kind smile from across the room, his own little pack of gnomes following after him. Did he go to get more workers as well?

"Thanks for the help, Koda. These guys are really good at hiding." Izuku looked back at the working gnomes with a small smile of his own.

Koda nodded in agreement as his own little creatures begin to join the rest. "I forgot to tell you about the rooms on the right and decided to check it out myself. There wasn't much there, but I did find a few of them hiding behind an overturned mine cart. The poor things were so scared." The boy looked at the gnomes with a sad expression.

Izuku wasn't sure how to reply to that, so he just nodded instead. It only took a moment for the poly system to begin moving, the iron buckets beginning to raise into the air and closer to the little window high up on the wall. That was his ride out. Checking again to make sure he had his lighter, Izuku walked closer to Koda and hesitated before initiating a hug. He could feel the taller boy's arms wrap around him comfortingly and he knew he'd miss having someone else to depend on the moment he got into that bucket. "Thanks again, Koda. I hope that you stay safe here."

Breaking the embrace, Koda gave him an encouraging smile and signed, "The same goes for you. Perhaps you should get something to eat and drink before you leave? There should be a bug hiding away somewhere around here."

Although the thought of eating a bug didn't sound the best, his hunger was reaching painful again but Izuku shook his head anyway. Running around for a bug would waste too much energy and if he wasn't mistaken, there should be something to eat just inside of that window. He saw a few rats heading that way at least. If he caught one on it's way inside then he could get a clear path to food. "No thanks, Koda. I will take some water, though."

The silent boy nodded and led him to the bucket of water. The container was made of a dull metal and the water dripped down into the bucket from somewhere along the ceiling. Izuku remembered hearing something about only drinking moving water and he guessed that this fit the description. Koda stood on the tip of his toes as he dipped his hands into the water and quickly gulped it down before even a single drop could fall through. Izuku pulled his lighter off of his back and stood on it to reach closer to the edge of the bucket. He was still a bit too short, but his hands reached over and grabbed a handful of water. He pulled it down to his face and swallowed it down quickly.

After a few more gulps of water, Izuku wiped his hands on his over sized rain coat and gathered his lighter back into his arms. He didn't want to leave this furnace room or Koda's side, but he didn't have a choice. He needed to find the secrets behind this place and that won't happen if he stays here. One last good bye to Koda and Izuku was on his way. He passed by Momo on his way into the bucket and he gave her a sad look. She didn't respond, not that he really expected her to. He honestly didn't know what he expected, so he ignored it and grabbed onto the bucket coming up closest to him.

It didn't take much effort to jump in and once he was inside, the ride up was smooth. The edge of the metal container was slightly too high for him to look out of it, but he had already said his goodbyes to Koda. Now, he had to focus on surviving. He owed it to Iida and Tsu to stay alive now that they'd sacrificed themselves for his sake. It was something that still weighed heavy on his chest, but he tried not to think about. He would do the same thing for either of them if the situation was switched, right? He was making progress and that alone is enough, right? He hoped so.

...

As Izuku crawled through the window, he was hit with a smell that nearly made him melt into the tiles below him. Around him, he smelled the cooking of meats and stews. His stomach clenched and squeezed at the smell alone, desperate for a taste of some of this. He could see the counter tops and a few stoves with sizzling meat on it. There were a few pots with steamed veggies or a beautiful smelling broth. He wanted it so badly that he nearly stepped off of the window seal just to get it, but his rational mind took over just in time. His heart beat quickly as he thought through what could've happen. He definitely would've died from a fall onto a hot surface, or worse, into a boiling soup.

There was a broom that would work as a good bridge down to the floor and a quick look around told him that no one was around just yet, but there could be someone coming in soon. Whoever this food was for wouldn't want it to get burned and the chef likely knew that. Acting quickly, Izuku walked along the window seal until he made it to the broom. He turned around and crawled down the wooden handle slowly, his arms shaking with the effort it took to keep him from falling.

Izuku landed on the floor with the soft slapping noise of his bare feet hitting the tile and he bolted under the nearest counter. The wonderful smells weren't quite as profound from under the counter, the stench of dust overwhelming it, but it was still there. Another look around to check for anyone entering the room, Izuku took note of a few stains on the floor. He could easily say it was from a spilled soup or the juices of a freshly cut meat, but something about the red color of it made him feel ill.

Sitting back, Izuku thought about this situation. He was in the middle of some kind of kitchen. If this was a kitchen, then there should be a pantry close by, right? There would be fresh fruits, vegetables and anything else he might've wanted. He could fill up there and then pack a little something as he continued. He thought of Koda and wanted to drop his friend some food as well, but there was no way to go back down. He'd just have to trust that his friend would be okay by himself.

Getting up again, Izuku crawled out from under the counter and looked for doors and halls. The room was large but the stoves and counters blocked his view. He could barely see anything from his spot and the floor and decided that he will have to adventure out a little bit in order to get a good idea of what this place looked like. Izuku's thoughts were cut short when he heard something beginning to beep. His heart spiked and his ears rang from the sound alone. Izuku ran away from the source of the sound and slid under the nearest counter just in time for something large and heavy to come stomping in. He could only see about half of the creature, but the heavy breathing and growling sounds made him doubt that it was friendly.

Based on the filthy apron on the creature's waist, this was the chef that kept track of the food. Izuku bit his lip to avoid making too much noise as he struggled to keep his breathing under control. This chef was a lot bigger than The Spider was and it had a lot more weapons in it's immediate reach. If Izuku so much as stepped out of hiding at the wrong time, a knife could come down on him.

The chef bent down with a bit of struggle and pulled open a large, metal door. Just inside was some kind of bread in a pan surrounded by red hot wires along the sides of the box. Izuku swallowed thickly at the thought of being shoved into something like that. Was this were Iida and Tsu ended up? He didn't want to know what happened to them, but his heart hurt from thinking about it. He had to find out if either of them were still okay. It was clear to him now that this wasn't something he could escape alone.

Izuku crawled along the side of the counter, careful to avoid the chef's line of sight as he did. Once he was fully out of shot, he stood up and looked around. There was a staircase leading up to a shelf. If he made it over there, he could be fairly safe, at least for a little while. Swallowing around a lump in his throat, Izuku leaned against the counter and peeked over the corner at the chef. The monster shifted and began walking the opposite direction, each step feeling like an earthquake. It was either now or never.

He ran at full speed toward the staircase and heard a sniffling noise far too close behind him. He panted out heavily as he ran, his energy all but spent from how little he'd eaten but he pressed forward all the same. If he didn't stop, he'd die. Izuku climbed up the stairs and immediately made it to the shelf. He found a good foot hold and began climbing. The chef had ran around one of the kitchen islands and was looking around the floor. It was looking for him. Izuku whimpered as he pressed forward, climbing higher and higher until he had made it to some kind of ceiling.

There were large beams crisscrossing just below the ceiling and a few jars and containers stored on top of it all. It was too high for the chef to reach, but it may not be outside of the monster's line of sight. Izuku pulled himself onto the first plank and looked across the area. It was dark, but he could still see due to the lights that hung from the beams. He walked carefully down the dark wood and avoided knocking anything over as best he could.

Just when he thought he'd gotten the hang of this, his foot slipped and he gasped as the world shifted around him. His arms reached out and grabbed onto the side of the wooden plank. There was a shattering sound just below him and Izuku looked down, regretting it immediately. The chef made sound of surprised and turned to him. He could see all of it now and the sight alone made his skin crawl.

It was almost drowning in it's own skin, wrinkles and folds covering ever inch of it's body. He saw more disgusting stains along the rest of the chef's clothes and he couldn't deny that at least some of those had to be from blood. The chef's thick, yet short fingers reached up toward him, the tips almost touched Izuku's foot. He gasped and tried to pull himself up, but his arms shook and wobbled. He couldn't pull himself back onto the plank and the chef's fingers were just barely brushing the tips of his toes.

A strong arm grabbed onto his and Izuku shouted in surprise, almost letting go of the plank all together. The lights shone brightly as he looked up but he thought he could make out the shape of...another kid? He thought he might be making things up, but the feeling on his arms was unmistakable. Those arms grabbed onto his wrists and he heard a loud, almost nasally voice, "Let go of the wood!"

Izuku shook his head in disagreement as his panic began to rise. They wanted him to let go and fall into the arms of that chef?! The voice didn't listen, however, and asked him again. "Let go! Trust me!" For a moment, Izuku thought he may die of a heart attack, but he finally swallowed and gathered the courage to believe them. Those warm hands were on his arms firmly. If he let go, maybe they'd catch him. Maybe, he wouldn't die.

Izuku chanted it over and over until, finally, he let go. He shouted in fear as his body fell slightly before he was caught again. His hands wrapped around another's and then he was being pulled up onto the plank again. Izuku rolled his legs up and let out a deep breath after what felt like forever. His heart was still beating much too fast, but he'd flooded with relief. He survived that. He believed them and he survived.

The moment didn't last long, however, and the other kid pulled him onto his feet with a quick, "Hurry up". They took his hand again and pulled him along the planks, barely giving him time to find his footing. They made it to another small window, but this time, they're completely out of the view of the chef, who was growling and sniffing for them along the ceiling.

Now that they were safe, Izuku could take in who this new kid was. He didn't recognize him at first with the face completely covered in dust and ash. The kid had dull blonde hair, parted near the middle with a little zig zag along the side. He was wearing the usual shirt and shorts that everyone else in the nursery had to wear, but it was also paired with a belt and weapon on his side. It looked like some kind of needle sword and if Izuku wasn't mistaken, the belt was made out of a shoe lace.

"It's been a while, Izuku. I thought we'd never see each other again!" The kid said with a goofy grin that didn't fit their situation at all.

Izuku couldn't help but share that smile, however. He hadn't seen Kaminari in forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been having such a hard time writing in past tense lately. I typically make a switch mid way through the chapter and just role with it until I finish. Then, I have to go back and fix it again, so sorry if there are a few errors. Also, welcome Kaminari onto the team! I was having a hard time deciding who to add and decided that Kaminari fit the bill.


	6. Chapter 6

"We have to find Asui and Iida before we leave." Izuku wasn't feeling up to arguing, but he would do anything it took to at least find out if his friends were okay. Kaminari, on the other hand, didn't seem to have the same mindset.

"Are you crazy?!" The boy half whisper, half shouted from where he sat on the plank. The chef was long gone by now, but that didn't meant it wouldn't be coming back. That soup was still boiling, which meant that the chef's job wasn't finished. "You want to risk out survival for two people who are already dead?!"

"But we don't know that." Izuku replied as he looked over the edge of the plank. It was a long way down. "Like I said before, I only saw Iida go up into the window. That doesn't mean that he's dead. And Asui could still be here as well. We have to keep up hope, at least for their sake."

Kaminari didn't respond, which was strange for the typically energetic child, but Izuku couldn't blame him. He saw the trauma in his friend's eyes, knew what might've caused it as well. Everyone he met in this horrible place was fighting for their lives and the fact that they had made it this far is nothing short of a miracle, but he couldn't leave alone. If there really was a way out of this place, then he would want more people than just him to know about it.

"Fine." Kaminari stood up and crosses his arms over his armor. "I'll help you find Asui and Iida, but you won't like what you see. That much I can guarantee."

"Thank you." Izuku whispered, not caring if the other child even heard him at this point. "Where would they be?"

Kaminari tapped his foot, a nervous habit he picked up after Sero disappeared. "I'd say the cold room...but we have to be careful." Izuku wondered when they ever weren't careful. "The chef doesn't go in there too often, but when he does, he turns on machines and it gets really loud."

Izuku nodded slowly. They could use that to their advantage. If the chef couldn't hear them, then they could run wherever they wanted through the kitchen, just as long as that machine stayed on. Storing the information away for later, Izuku stood up and made sure his lighter was still strapped onto his back tightly. They had to move quickly if they wanted to save either of their friends.

He followed Kaminari silently, watching the floor below as they walked across the planks. He mimicked the blonde's every movement, down to the exact foot print he left. The chef was nowhere to be seen, which was relieving in the sense that they didn't have to be as quiet, but it left Izuku with a dulled feeling of dread. If it wasn't in the kitchen, then where was it? It could come in at any moment, or worse, it could already be in the cold room.

Kaminari halted sharply, making Izuku run into his back and nearly tipping them both over the edge. They both let out a soft gasp before stopping, steading themselves before they plummeted to the ground. Izuku breathes quickly as the adrenaline kicked in. That was too close. How pathetic would he be if he died because he wasn't paying enough attention to where he was walking?!

"This is our stop." Kaminari pointed to the wall ahead of them, signaling that there was no where left to go but down. Izuku looked below them and saw a dark hall. It was difficult to see, but he thought there was some kind of giant cage imbedded into the wall. He looked at it for a moment, feeling that dread come back in full force. He couldn't figure out why, exactly, but he didn't like that cage. "Alright, slide down this rope."

Izuku turned his attention back to Kaminari, who had attached a rope to the side of the plank, the sharp tip digging into the old wood. A sharp tug on the rope proved that it wasn't moving anywhere and finally, Izuku climbed over the edge of the plank and let himself rely on the rope to keep him from splatting onto the carpet below.

"Don't use your arms alone." Kaminari shouted from above, far too loud to make Izuku comfortable. "Wrap the rope around your legs as you go and slide. But don't cut yourself either! That will make you bleed and it could get infected."

"Th-thanks!" Izuku grunted as he wrapped the rope around his legs and slowly slid down. It burned the pads of his bare feet, but his arms were getting really tired and by this point, he was beginning to accept that he would be in pain no matter what he did. The hunger was already enough to make him want to double over. As he inched down the rope, something dinged. He immediately stopped sliding and looked back toward the cage. It's doors opened loudly, metal joins pulling at the metal and releasing a high screech in response.

"Climb back up! Climb back up!" Kaminari shouted from above him, but Izuku was already half way down the rope. Still, he had to try. Wrapping his arms around the rope, Izuku pulled himself up with a strength he never would've achieved with the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Once he was stretched out to his full length, he let go of the rope with his feet and pulled them up, wrapping the rope around them again. "No! Push with your legs! Using your arms will only make it harder!"

Something grunted loudly behind him and he paused for a moment to see the chef's small eyes staring right at him. It's melted face jiggled as it ran forward as a slower speed than The Spider, but still an outrageously fast speed. Izuku felt a scream rip through his throat as he pushed up with his feet, grabbing the rope, and doing it all over again. He set his gaze on Kaminari, who was working on pulling the rope up from his side.

Footsteps came closer as Izuku made his way higher and higher. Fat, sweaty fingers grazed his foot as he inched forward, his lungs aching with each rugged breath. His hands and feet stung, but he couldn't stop. Something pulled at the bottom of the rope, making Kaminari stumble forward, but he caught himself again. It became a tug-of-war between the chef and Kaminari, the latter seeming to loose his balance with every strong tug the monster gave.

"Grab by hand!" Kaminari shouted, holding the rope up with one hand and reaching down with the other. He was vulnerable, extremely so, and one hard tug on the rope could mean the end for him, but Izuku pressed forward. He pushed off with his legs and reached up, but his fingers didn't quite make it. "You have to jump!"

"I-I can't!" Izuku panted out. He was loosing the feeling in his legs with how much they ached and he couldn't possibly imagine using them to jump, especially when he had no ground to push off of. It was just him, the rope and the chef's readily open hand.

"You have to! There's no other way!"

Anther had tug nearly threw Kaminari off of the plank, but he stayed on.

"Please! Just jump!"

"I-"

"Do it, Izuku!"

Izuku sucked in a deep breath, deeper than he had ever taken in before, and pushed off with his legs. The rope unraveled from between his feet easily, letting him glide upward without any resistance. He saw Kaminari's hand get close rand closer, his own hand making it's way into that warm palm.

But his hands were too tired to fully grab. He couldn't close his shaky fingers around Kaminari's own and just when he was beginning to fall again, he felt his hand slide downward as well. He was going to fall.

Kaminari let go of the rope with both hands now, reaching forward to grab onto Izuku's wrist and caught him in the last possible second.

Izuku felt his weight pull against Kaminari's arm, but they didn't fall. The rope slid down, making the chef grunt in confusion and for a moment, thing were okay. He was dangling from high off of the ground, the only thing keeping him up was Kaminari's hands, but he felt safe. Safer than he ever had before.

But that safety didn't last, because soon, the rope pulled taunt again, making Izuku's leg burn as the rough edge of the rope cut into his leg. He let out a shout of pain and Kaminari grunted as he pulled harder. Izuku's legs flailed helplessly below him, trying to get a hold on something that he could push off of, but there was nothing. The other boy pulled at Izuku's arms harder, his small shoes scraping against the dark wood.

Once Izuku saw the opportunity to grab the edge of the plank, he did. Letting go of Kaminari's arms made his stomach momentarily sink, but his hand caught on the wood and held him in place. He still wasn't out of danger, the rest of his body hanging off of the end limply, but Kaminari didn't let him stay there for too long. Those strong hand grabbed onto anything the boy could get and pulled Izuku up and over the edge, letting him fall onto his back. Izuku's breathes came out in heavy pants, his mind spinning from the rush of it all. They could still hear the chef grunting and breathing below them, but he didn't pose as high of a threat anymore.

As Izuku moved to get back onto his feet, Kaminari pulled a this sleeve, just as eager to get out of here as the smaller boy was. "Common! There might be another way to the cold room, but we have to hurry!" Izuku got up without argument, following the boy as they both ran back into the kitchen. They had loose a lot of time, but as long as the chef was within their lien of vision, then he wasn't chopping up their friends, right?

"Right through here!" Kaminari shouted. Izuku flinched when he heard something crash behind him and saw that the plank they had just been on feel to the floor. How was the chef able to pull that down?! It was so stable before!

As Kaminari turned right and left, Izuku followed until they made it to a small vent, smaller than most of the others in this place. The blonde crawled through first, using only his arms and feet to push him through as he lay flat on his stomach. Izuku took his turn once there was room, sucking in a gasp from the cold metal that touched his hands. The icy feeling spread across his limbs as he lay flat on the metal. It gave him chills, but he had to press on. If that chef could pull down a plank, then it could do much worse to the two of them.

There was an opening not far ahead, but as they got closer and closer to it, the colder it got. Izuku's shivered pants became visible in the air, but he pressed forward. By the time they were just upon the opening, Kaminari's blond head fell downward, the rest of his body going with him. Izuku gasped as the other boy's screams filled the vents, echoing all around him.

"Kaminari!" He shouted back, his own voice echoing down and up and to the side until it faded, but there was no answer. Rushing forward, Izuku ignored the numb feeling beginning to spread across his skin as he got to the place Kaminari had once been. The vent went down just by the opening and when he looked down, he saw...what did he see? He couldn't quite identify it from this point. "Kaminari?" He shouted again, more hesitantly this time.

"Come on down!" The other boy's voice answered back, although, it was muffled and a little hard to hear.

Izuku didn't like the look of that drop. It made his stomach twist just by looking at it -or maybe that was the ever constant hunger- but he had to follow Kaminari. If Asui and Iida were gone, then he would end up alone. He never wanted to be alone again, especially in a place like this. So, Izuku crawled closer to the hole and braced himself as he fell down, head first.

The landing was hard, but not too painful. He ended up landing on his shoulder, which was a lot better than on his head. Izuku shivered as he stood up, looking around the area. All he saw was more metal, but when he looked up, there was a separation between the vent and wherever he was now. He wasn't sure if he liked this new place, since it looked too much like those cages he saw before and it was considerably colder.

"Hey, get out of there! Do you want to get grinded?!" Kaminari's blonde head popped up from the side of the metal bowl and Izuku's blood started pumping again at that last word. He took the other boy's hand and climbed out easily, landing on a wooden table on the other side. Kaminari climbed down from the table, landing on some kind of dirty cloth, but he didn't seem to mind. As Izuku followed, he made a point of avoiding that cloth. The red stains made him feel ill.

"Where a-are we?" Izuku asked through a particularly strong chill. He rubbed at his arms and passed his weight between his feet. They were going numb. The tip of his nose was freezing and every time Izuku licked his lips to get some feeling into them, they only got colder. Even his eyes stung from the icy breeze flowing through the room. With a feeling of sinking dread, he swallowed around the lump in his throat and looked up at the hanging bags of meat. If the chef didn't kill them, the cold would.

"The cold room." Kaminari answered with a shiver of his own. "You're lucky you got out of that meat grinder when you did. The lever's been broken for a while and it sometimes turns on randomly." The blond pointed to a long, black lever on the side of the machine. It hung almost horizontally as compared to the sharp fifty degree angle levers typically stay at. Or, maybe he was just imagining things. He didn't know that much about levers, after all.

The thought of a meat grinder suddenly turning on makes his skin crawl. He really is lucky that he got out so fast. Who knows what would've happened. "Well...where would they be? If they're in this room then wouldn't they already be..."

Kaminari shrugs unhelpfully. "Maybe. I haven't seen anyone else come in here alive. This isn't exactly close to the nursery."

How did he talk so casually about their own friend's deaths? And the horrors that he likely saw on his way into the kitchen...how was he so calm? It's obvious that Kaminari isn't quite the same energetic kid he was before all of this happened, but Izuku feels like he's himself had changed so much. He was less curious about the world outside their relatively safe nursery and cared more about actually surviving now. The longer he stayed here, the more he hated it.

They made their way into a long hall, the ceiling almost completely covered with frozen meats. the bags looked heavy and larger than any child he had seen, but it didn't give him any comfort. They were all stained a dark color, making his stomach twist with worry. Despite how hungry he felt, his appetite had long disappeared. "Have you been in here before?" The boy certainly seemed like he had.

"No, but I've looked inside plentily of times. The chef comes in a lot, looking for this or that meat to cook next. They bring in other bags too, small ones. I always assumed that they just ground up whatever's inside and hang the bits up."

Izuku had to stop. His face drained of color, but it wasn't from the cold. Nausea over took him completely and his small, dirty hands landed on the cold, tile floor. He gaged, but nothing came up. One shivering arm wrapped around his abdomen, pain crawling up his spine and threatening to tear him in half. His vision went in and out, black dots clouding his view of his own hand in front of him. The world was spinning and all he could think about was the pain that completely consumed him.

"Iz-u!" He couldn't hear around the ringing in his ears. "A- -ou -ka-"

He gagged again and this time, bile splatted onto the floor below him, leaving him emptier than before. He didn't think it was even possible. A pained groan ripped from his throat and his vision went out with another violent wave of nausea. He was going to die, Izuku thought with a strange sense of clarity. He had gone too many days using up what little stamina he had left, and now, he was going to die. The monsters couldn't catch him, but they still won this fight. There really was no way out. The only options they ever had in this cruel place was to either die by the hands of their demons, or to starve. Izuku chose the latter, apparently.

Something large and cold fell in front of his eyes. Once his hunger driven brain identified it as meat of some kind, he immediately launched forward and ripped at it with his dull teeth. It's flesh was tough and hard to pull at, but he managed to tear away pieces and ate those like a starving rat. His teeth ached from the cold every time they touched the meat, but he wouldn't let that stop him. He was going to fill that emptiness that kept clawing at his insides, threatening to tear him apart.

Izuku finally found himself again once his stomach was filled, which didn't take very long, considering how small it had shrunk through his weeks of starvation. With shaky, cold hands, he wiped whatever was on his face away and slowly stood up. He was freezing again, the chill now resignation inside of him as well, but at least he wasn't hungry. He would rather freeze in this cold room than return to that horrible place he had once been in.

"Are...are you okay?" Kaminari whispered from somewhere behind him. Izuku's head shot up an met the other boy's frightened eyes.

"Yeah, just cold." A shiver raked his body as if on cue. After a moment, Kaminari nodded, but still seemed shaken by something. He moved forward, clearly avoiding the large sausage on the floor, and continued through the hall at a faster pace than before. Izuku hurried to get to his feet, leaving the meat behind. He let silence pass between them as they walked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how I planned to get to Asui and Iida by the middle of this chapter...but that obviously didn't happen. Also, I want to add that writing Kaminari is interesting to me. In this world, it's strange to think about how their personalities would be in a world like this and I kind of gave him the role of an experienced adventurer. On a side note, I'm really glad that a lot of people love this story but getting into the spooky vibe has been difficult, even with Halloween coming up. I hope that I find the time (and motivation) to get to this again soon, but we'll see.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I finally did it! I finally finished this one! I plan to make one last chapter of this before Halloween and it should be good. I'm so grateful for the patience you guys have had with me and the lack of motivation. This one has just been so hard to write for and I'm finally going to finish.

They were gone. No matter where they looked, they couldn't find even the remains of their old friends, and somehow, that hurt even worse. Not only was he not able to save them from the cruel hands of the chef, but he didn't have any way to mourn them either. All that was left were the memories of being hunted by creatures stronger and larger than them.

"We have no choice now." Kaminari patted the smaller boy's back lightly. "We have to get out of here before we join them."

Izuku still didn't move from his spot on the floor, holding a bloodied sheet of fabric. He didn't even know if it was the one they were wrapped in. He could only hope that they suffocated before they were grinded up or cut into pieces.

"It's too cold to stay in here. Let's just go."

The tears on his face made him shiver. How could he do this to them? They sacrificed their lives for him and he didn't make it in time to save them in return. Did he even deserve to leave this place if he couldn't bring them with him? The guilt threatened to consume him as his breathes began to come in sharp hiccups. What has he done?

"Hey." Kaminari couched down next to him. "This isn't your fault."

Izuku didn't believe him. Kaminari wasn't there when they were running from The Spider. He had no idea what happened, how many different ways Izuku could've helped. Maybe, if he had just kept his grip on Iida a little longer, or been the one to distract The Spider while Asui ran. There was so much he could've done and yet, here he was, stuck mourning them.

"It's too cold to stay here, Izuku. If you really want to prove that their lives were worth it, then keep living. Let's find a way out of this place together."

Finally, Izuku nodded and stood up, letting the fabric fall from his fingers. He was right. They had nothing else but the hope to find a way out. Standing on numb legs, Izuku joined Kaminari out of room with hanging meat and into the one with the grinder instead. "How do we get out?" Izuku looked around for some kind of exit. There was a large door that they could use, but there was a high chance that the chef could see them. They couldn't go back through the vent, so where would they go?

"Lets see if this door works." Kaminari walked up to it, touching the cold metal of it before retracting his hand as if he had been burned. "That's really cold!" He stuffed his hand into his armpit, trying to warm it up in some way. Izuku joined him and looked up. Neither of them were tall enough to reach the handle alone, but...maybe they didn't have to.

"If you let me step on your back, then maybe I can open it." Izuku offered.

"Why do I have to stay on the floor?" Kaminari crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

"Because you have shoes and it'll hurt my back." And honestly, Izuku didn't think he could stand touching the floor for longer than he already was. His fingers and toes were starting to hurt and kneeling down could only make it worse. "Please? We don't have time to argue."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Kaminari nodded and got onto all fours. "Just hurry up, then."

Izuku wasted no time in climbing onto the boy's back and reaching up for the handle. Once he got a grab on it, he stepped off of Kaminari and used all of his-admittedly light-weight to pull it down. the handle fell slightly, but didn't budge after that. He was afraid this might happen. Letting go of the cold metal, Izuku let out a hot breath to warm his hands. "It's locked."

"Then how are we supposed to leave?!" Kaminari looked up at the window on the door. "The chef could come in at any moment. What are we supposed do?"

The kids in the nursery always called Izuku a know-it-all for his supposedly good planning skills, but right now, he just felt stupid. Why didn't he plan on a way to get out of here?! He knew Kaminari had a tendency to take things head on, not really thinking of consequences or possible out comes, so why didn't he take the responsibility to think ahead? He was beginning to panic, watching the door as if it would swing open at any moment and the chef would come marching in to kill them. His heart was beating fast and his lungs left like they were too small.

"Hey, chill! I bet there's some way to get out! Why don't we climb into the grinder again and try going up the vent?"

It was a bad attempt at comfort, but it did give Izuku an idea. "The ginder...it makes a lot of noise, right?" He remembered Iida saying something about using noise to your advantage. The creatures couldn't hear you if there was a louder sound nearby. Maybe this could work the same way, but instead of using it as a means to run away, they could use it to get out of this place. "Turn it on."

Kaminari looked at him for a long moment before slowly nodding and running up to the machine on the table. He reached up to pull the lever and suddenly, the room filled with noise. It was loud and made Izuku's hears hurt, but he didn't stop it. He could handle hurt ears for a little while if it meant that they could escape.

Both children ran under the table, waiting for the opportunity to run. Izuku watched the door with an intense stare, his numb fingers covering his ears. It had to be coming in at any moment, right? There's no way it didn't hear the grinder and so it would check out what happened. It had to be coming.

They saw rather than heard the door open and once the handle twisted, the metal door slammed against the side wall, making both boys jump. The chef hurried inside, it's stout feet shuffling across the floor. It stopped in front of the grinder, but neither of them waited for it to turn it off. Kaminari took Izuku's hand and they ran. The soft pattering of their feet was entirely covered up by the grinder and within seconds, they were out of the cold room and back into the kitchen. The sudden warmth was almost overwhelming, but they couldn't stop to relish in it. The grinder turned off and they still weren't nearly as far from the cold room as was comfortable.

"Run!" Izuku shouted and they both hurried off toward the book case that lead up to the ceiling. Kaminari pushed him forward as they heard the huffing of the chef following after them. Izuku felt like his breath was stopping in his throat, threatening to choke him but he pressed forward. They were going to make it. They had to.

The moment he got the chance, Izuku grabbed onto the book case and began his ascend upward. His limbs pushed him up and up until he finally made it to the top, but he still wasn't safe. There was a short jump from the book case to the planks along the ceiling. He could make it.

"Izuku, run!" Kaminari shouted from below him, drawing the smaller child's attention. He was still climbing up and Izuku watched in horror as the chef reached up and grabbed onto Kaminari's leg. The creature tugged hard, making him loose his grip on the shelf but he caught himself again another ledge. "Izuku!"

He didn't know whether it was a shout for help or to leave him behind, but Izuku acted without thinking. He jumped down to the top shelf and grabbed the needle hanging on Kaminari's belt. Raising it above his head, he met Kaminari's eye as he thrust it back down, stabbing through the thick flesh. Izuku didn't stop until the needle was almost halfway in, then let go.

Kaminari's eyes were wide in with shock and for a moment, no one moved, but the horror of the situation came crashing down with the power of a title wave. Izuku helped the taller boy up and together, they climbed to safety. He could hear the chef screaming behind then, likely clutching at the needle that was now stuck in it's hand, but he didn't care.

In moment, they were jumping across that terrifying gape and landed on the planks once again. They were safe, for now, but the chef would come back for them. They had to move.

"Izuku, I-"

"Do you know the way out?" He was out of breath and they both needed a moment to rest, but they didn't have time for that. He would deal with the consequences once they got out.

Kaminari didn't respond for a short moment, breathing heavily. "I think so, but I can't guarantee that it'll be this safe out there." It was laughable but neither of them felt like making a sound. The chef was still screaming below them, but they ignored it.

"Where do we go?"

The other boy stood up and nodded to the right. The planks extended out for another room or so, but after that, they would have to go back on the floor. Well, if the chef was distracted, then now should be a perfect time for them to run. Before he can get the go ahead from Kaminari, Izuku starts making his way toward the exit. He never would've thought it were possible before, but he's sick of the smell of meat. The warmth wasn't inviting anymore and it made him feel itchy.

"Wait for me!" Kaminari called after him. Izuku flinched and looked down by instinct. How did he survive being this loud? Willing the irritation away, the two walked along the planks, keeping an ear out for the chef. They would make it out. They had to.

...

Without a rope, dropping down to the floor was a bit of a challenge, but they managed to find a sack of potatoes to land on. Izuku knew he would definitely have a few bruises from that, but he shrugged them away and jumped out of the tall basket. This room wasn't like the kitchen, but it did have the same tile patters. Instead of stoves with boiling soup and sizzling meat, there were skins with dishes stacked higher than the ceiling. Soapy bubbled practically spilled from the sinks onto the floor, where more dishes laid. The counters were stacked similar to the sink, piles reaching high and tipping in a worrying way.

"Come on. We're almost there." Kaminari whispered and pointed to the door on their right. Just a little bit further, and they would be out of this place.

Izuku could still hear the chef screaming from the kitchen but now, it was just a distant sound, like someone had covered it's face with a thick pillow. As he listened closely, Izuku gasped softly and turned on his heels, staring at the tall doorway just behind the counters. There were footsteps from that direction, but what could it be? The chef was still in the kitchen and there was nothing else haunting this area...was there?

A door opened and to both of their horror, a second chef came hurrying out. This one's face still sagged like it had been melted off, but the skin also looked stretched around a wide mouth and small eyes. It spotted them quickly and let out a surprised huff. They didn't stick around long enough to find out what it would do next.

Izuku felt his arm pull painfully as Kaminari dashed away, heading toward their destination at top speeds. Those heavy footsteps followed after then and for a moment, he thought he heard the faint screaming stop as well. Kaminari never let go of his hand as they ran, their lungs already beginning to protest. They should've rested for a moment, at least to lower their heart rates. Izuku wheezed heavily as he ran, feeling his chest begin to burn with every inhale. His legs ached from overuse but he couldn't stop.

Looking back for a slip second, Izuku saw both chefs marching toward them, their hands reaching out to grab them. He turned back toward Kaminari, who had already made it to a large crate and was preparing to jump up. There was a running poly system just above it, little hooks trailing up toward another window. Izuku didn't look back as he watched Kaminari grab onto the side of the crat and climbed up at a painfully slow pace. Once he was up, he reached down to grab Izuku's waiting hand and pulled him up as well. They could both see the hooks now. They were going to make it.

Both chefs rushed toward them, too close for comfort. Kaminari went first, running across the crate and jumping at the last moment to grab a hook. He stayed on and began riding it up to the window. Now, it was Izuku's turn.

He ran, bare feet slapping against the hard wood, and jumped. A hook met his fingers and he closed them. His body's weight fell onto the hook and he choked down a scream of pain as his fingers held all of his weight. He made it. Too scared to adjust his grip, Izuku looked back instead and watched as both monsters slowly grew smaller and smaller until he passed through the little window. He hoped that the would never see them again.

...

The hooks didn't stop as they got through the window, but Izuku couldn't hold on for much longer. His fingers were beginning to cut open as the sharp hook dug into his skin. He either had to let go or find a better way to hold on.

"Over here!"

Izuku looked ahead, seeing Kaminari waving at him from a ledge. He must've dropped onto it but it didn't look too far down. He could make it.

"Drop down! There's a ladder that lead up!"

Taking in a painful breath, Izuku waited for the hook to meet the ledge before he finally let go. Landing on the wood with a soft grunt, Kaminari helped him back onto his feet before checking his hands. Kaminari hissed in sympathy at the dark red marks along his joints. "They hurt, but I can make it up the ladder." There was no other choice. If they didn't find a way out, then they'd all die.

"Here, borrow my gloves." Kaminari pulled of the leathery things with his teeth before slipping them onto Izuku's fingers. They were a bit big, but he was more surprised by the way they felt than anything. How did he make these? They're so nice. "Come on. I'll go second in case you fall."

Izuku swallowed around the permanent lump in his throat and nodded. Looking up at the ladder, he felt his heart drop into his stomach. It reached up further than he could see. How were they supposed to climb all that way up? "You'll catch me if I fall, right?"

"Right." Kaminari responded, as if it were simple.

"Alright." Izuku held back a shiver as he reached out for the bars. Much to his surprise, he could really feel them through the gloves and better yet, his fingers didn't sting as he began climbing up. With the extra padding, it was a little difficult to fully close his hand, but his grip was tight enough to keep his steady.

"Hold on!" Kaminari shouted from below and Izuku nearly died right then and there.

"W-What?!" Had those monsters somehow found them again? Where they going to die so close to their goal?

"What happened to your lighter?"

Izuku felt his adrenaline run as he let go of the bars with one hand and reach onto his back. It was gone. How had he not noticed it before? His lighter was gone. "Where is it? I need to get it back! I need-"

"It's too late for that now." The bars shook a bit as Kaminari began climbing as well. "There's no way back and even if there was, we'd die trying to find it. It's probably better that you don't have that added weight."

But he was missing his lighter! He hadn't left it behind no matter what happened. It protected him when The Spider lurked around every corner. He felt safe when he saw it's orange light. He needed it.

"I promise you'll be okay without it. Just keep climbing before you run out of energy now."

Izuku sucked in a deep breath and began climbing up again. He couldn't believe that he lost it...but maybe Kaminari was right. It would give a lot of extra weight tha the couldn't handle on a climb like this. Besides, he hadn't really needed it for a while now. Maybe there will be good lights wherever they were headed. Speaking of which..."Where are we going?"

"No clue. I've never left the kitchen."

"What?!" Izuku stopped for a moment, looking down at the other boy. "Then how did you know the way out?"

"It was a lucky guess. That poly is the only thing that lead away from the kitchen instead of in. It had to be the only way out."

He was trusting someone who had never left the kitchen before?! Izuku pulled his body close to the bars and took a deep breath. It didn't matter. He survived his entire journey through the halls with Iida and Asui and none of them knew where they were going. They could get out of this place eventually. They had to. Izuku grabbed the next bar and pulled himself up. They could do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the comments you guys leave but I have one favor to ask. For the end of this fic, I'm debating between two different scenarios and the number of reviews may impact it (An even number of comments being option one and odd being two). Be careful which one you choose.


	8. Chapter 8

"Izuku, look out there!" Kaminari pointed out a round window. "I can see outside!"

Going down a few steps on the ladder, Izuku came back to the window that he hadn't really bothered to look out of before. He was tired and everything ached badly so what good would looking out a window do, but once he saw what the other boy was pointing at, he understood.

There was water out there, crashing against some kind of metal ship puffing out smoke. From the skip came a long line of people that looked more like the two chefs than anything. They were round and walked slowly, like their little legs couldn't push them faster than the pace they were already going at. The line lead to the left and disappeared somewhere that the window couldn't see. What on Earth was going on in this place?

"Who do you suppose they are?" Kaminari asked.

"I have no clue." Where they other monsters? But there were so many of them. He looped a leg around the metal bar and sat down, letting his arms rest for a moment. What would a group like that need from this place? Well, there was a kitchen, which probably meant that there was someone to cook for. Were these people...guests? Did they come here to eat all of that meat? They sure didn't look very hungry.

"They're kinda creepy. I feel like they can see us."

Izuku knew that the window was far out of their view, but he felt the same. Any of them could just turn as look at them, even though it was unlikely. "Remember the plates that were stacked really high up? They were all dirty. I think they're here to eat all of that food."

Kaminari didn't respond immediately, either thinking over the idea or shocked from the implication. Finally, after a while of silence, Kaminari spoke. "Let's keep going. I don't want to get stuck wherever these guys are headed."

With that, the two of them continued their journey up, now afraid of what lay ahead.

...

With aching muscles and soft pants, Izuku finally made it to the top. He pulled himself up to a wooden ledge and rolled until his entire body was away from that horrible ladder. He stares at the high ceiling for a moment, trying to feel his limbs again. "I'll never climb another ladder in my life."

Kaminari had the energy to chuckle as he knelt next to Izuku, a tired smile on his face. "Let's hope that's true."

Once both of them could somewhat feel what it was like to be alive again, they stood up and continued on their path. Every step felt like they were dragging their legs, but it was the best they could do. They just had to hope that they wouldn't meet anyone else in this horrible place. Walking along the wooden floors, Izuku saw yellow lights shining behind a several rows of shoji doors. The white fabric stretched across the dark wood made the lights a bit dull, but in a way, it was really nice. He might've enjoyed it, if it weren't for the horrible sounds of chewing behind it. They had to get out of this place.

"Are those..." Kaminari pointed. They couldn't see beyond the doors, but the sounds were enough to tell what was going on.

"The guests." Izuku answered. The clicking of silverware and dishes wasn't very inviting and if anything, it made the boy feel sick. He didn't want to know what those things looked like up close. "Let's go before they spot us."

Nodding silently, Kaminari walked with him as they made their way out of the room. The next one was nearly identical to the last, except this time, they didn't have the shoji to hide them. Sitting on tall stools were several of the guests. Their bodies were large and their backs were hunched as they leaned over the counter. Izuku could barely see the plates of food between them, some of the dishes having fell off onto the floor while others laid in random places along the counter. They were slobs, eating and eating without a moment to breathe. They shoved their fat fingers into their open mouths as they chewed on long strings of sausage or thick slice of ham.

Izuku took the lead, carefully stepping across the floor. If they were quiet, then maybe they could avoid the guests all together. They didn't look like they would be looking around, all of their attention fully focused on the food in front of them. Now was their chance to move.

They stopped when Izuku saw a gnome cowering just below the counter. It was curled up on itself and shivering. For a moment, Izuku debated on what to do before derailing from his current destination and slowly crept toward the gnome. He heard Kaminari's clothing shift behind him but didn't look. He had enough time to get the gnome out too.

As he stepped closer, the sound of chewing and swallowing got louder. He kept a closer eye on each of the guests, their hand still swatting around the counter to grab anything that might've resembled food. As he stood just under the stool one of them were sitting on, a large slab of meat came down in front of him, nearly crushing him to death.

He shouted in surprise and immediately regretted it. It was just loud enough to catch the guest's attention, it's small eyes lowering until it spotted him.

Izuku grabbed onto the gnome and ran, coming back to where Kaminari was standing and bolted for the door. He heard the guest grunt and squeal as it fell to the ground, it's body hitting the floor with a loud thud. Izuku didn't look back as he ran. His legs were already starting to burn, but he didn't have time to stop.

"Run faster! There's more coming!" Kaminari shouted from behind him and sure enough, with a glance back, there were at least three guests crawling after them on their stomachs. Their hands reached out to grab at Kaminari whenever they got close, but he stayed just out of their grasp.

Izuku ran into a darker hall and turned right sharply, nearly running into a wall. As they ascended down a short flight of stairs, they could hear the guests crash into the wall and scrabble around each other to get back up. They were so close. He could practically feel rumbling of their movement in his soul.

Taking a hard left this time, Izuku ran down a brighter hall lined with shoji. He glanced back in time to see the guests tumble down the stairs and continue their chase. Why did they want them so badly?! They were nothing compared to the food they already had!

There was an exit just ahead. They could make it. But just as they were exiting the hall, the shoji crashed down, receiving even more guests who had suddenly turned their attention to the two boys. Scrambling out of their chairs, the rest of them began to join the mob of guests giving chase. Izuku panted out in hard, heavy breaths as he ran forward. He passed the door frame and ran up a ramp that led to the end of a balcony. There was a Japanese lantern to grab onto and as he jumped from the wooden railing, he reached out with one arm and grabbed onto the lantern. It swung him across the gap and he let go once he made it to the second balcony, just across from the one he just left.

Falling onto shaky legs, Izuku finally looked back and saw Kaminari running up the ramp. The guests were right behind him, reaching out to grab at him in any way they could. He reached the end of the railing, just like Izuku had. But the lantern was just out of reach and he fell into the dark abyss below, a terrified scream echoing after him.

Kaminari was gone.

...

Izuku felt numb. Too numb to continue to sob as his eyes grew red and puffy. He didn't know how long he spent sitting on that balcony, crying for Kaminari to respond, but nothing came. The sickening crunch of the boy's body hitting something still filled his ears but he couldn't do anything to stop it. Kaminari was gone and there was nothing more to do about it.

Standing up slowly, Izuku couldn't tell if the ache in his chest was from his overworked heart or the pain. Either way, he had rested long enough and needed to move on. He still had a mission to do and now, he had to honor Kaminari's sacrifice like he did with Iida and Asui. Each step he took felt heavy and labored, but he pressed on. This next area was dark and had a similar design as the nursery had, dark wood floors and tall walls. For a moment, he worried that he had looped around back the beginning, it was unfamiliar enough to put him on edge.

The dark hall connected to a large living room with a stair case going up the side. A large eye sat on one of the walls, closed. It was probably for the best. Who knew what it could do. The last ones turned children into stone, like it had with Kirishima.

Izuku decided to head up the stairs, making quick work of climbing up each one and finally arriving on the upper floor. There were several doors but most were locked. Something about this felt familiar, but he knew he had never gone here before. Looking around for a moment, he saw a light turn on in one of the rooms, the door opening slowly. Gasping, Izuku ran for cover but saw nothing to hide behind. He was fully exposed.

A few minutes of panic passed and nothing came out. What? Standing up slowly, Izuku walked toward the open door, keeping his footsteps light and quiet, he listened for any sounds and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard someone begin to hum a tune. It sent shivers up his spine and felt far too close for comfort, but he had nowhere else to go. Taking in a deep breath, Izuku inched toward the door frame and peeked inside.

The moment he looked, the humming stopped and the room was empty. He wasn't sure whether to be comforted or unsettled by that, but moved inside anyway. It was a small room with only a vanity mirror and a few shelves. In front of the mirror was a velvet red chair and what looked to be a hairbrush on top of the desk. Walking up to the chair, Izuku jumped up and grabbed onto the cushion. The chair threatened to tip over but held steady as he pulled himself up with weak arms.

The cushion itself was fairly soft and sunk a bit as Izuku stepped on it. Now that he was at eye level with the mirror, he could see the cracks in it. Had someone smashed it? There were pieces of glass along the desk. What happened? Looking around the desk, he saw that hairbrush from earlier but beside it was a large key with the eye shape on the handle.

"This could be important." He whispered to himself, picking it up with both hands and held it close to his chest. Looking around, he didn't see any other doors in the room, which meant that this likely opened one of the other doors down the hall. Jumping off of the chair, Izuku grunted softly from the impact but moved on. Walking out of the room, he was surprised to see just how dark it was in the rest of the hall. He hadn't even noticed it before.

Izuku squinted through the darkness to try and see where the next door was and stopped in front of it. He really wished he had his lighter right now. He could barely see the door knob through the shadows, much less make out where the key hole was. The knob was probably too high up for him to reach anyway and getting a key inside of it would be nearly impossible. Looking around, Izuku saw the other doors along the wall as his eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness. There were so many.

Looking back down at the key, he analyzed the eye symbol closely. The eye on this key was open, as if it were staring at him. Looking back up at the door, the eye symbol on it was closed. Did he have to find one that was open? He had doubts that it would actually work, but he had no other options at the moment. If he just wandered around the floor, he could end up meeting another monster.

Now that his eyes were more adjusted, he could see the symbols on each door without having to walking up close to them but much to his frustration, none of the eyes were open. Deciding to go back down the stairs, he suddenly felt like he was being watched. The darkness was a lot more prominent down the stairs and he dreaded having to walk around without being able to see very well, but he hadn't seen anything before...

"You can do this." Izuku whispered to himself as he went down the steps, trying not to stare into the darkness for too long, which was difficult. "Just find the door and go in. But what if he found it and it was even darker inside? What if it unleashed some great evil that controlled this entire place? What if-

Izuku stopped when he heard the humming again. This time, it came from his right, where the stairs continued down. He couldn't see if anything was down there, but it sounded so close. Terror took hold of him and he inched as far away from the humming as he could. His back hit the wall and he stared into the darkness in front of him, straining his eyes to see something. The humming never stopped as he searched, which was a bit of a good sign. It meant that whatever this thing was wasn't moving closer, but it wasn't moving away either. He was stuck there.

Through the darkness, he thought he could see a slight glimpse of a figure, tall and thin but as soon as he was beginning to put together what it might be, the humming stopped. He froze, waiting for something to happen, but nothing came. Was this a good sign? He wasn't sure, but at least the silence meant that he was probably alone now.

Turning away from the end of the stairs, he saw that what he thought was a hall against his back was a door, engraved with an eye that was open. Perfect! Now, how did he get the key into the hole...

Looking back down in the darkness, he debated whether it was worth the risk to go down there, potentially exposing himself to whatever that humming thing was, but in the end, he sucked in a deep breath and walked down the stairs. In the darkness, he could only see a few blurs and anything he saw was hard to make out. His foot hit something metal and Izuku swallowed down a scream, crouching to hold his throbbing toes. What on earth did he just run into?!

Reaching forward, he felt the object. It was slightly cold and metal, shaped into a circle that went up, hollow inside. His brain connected the dots, saying that this was a bucket. Well, wherever this came from, he could use it at least. Standing up again,-he ignored the dull throb in his foot-Izuku grabbed onto the metal handle and dragged the bucket with him up the stairs. It wasn't too heavy, meaning that there shouldn't have been anything inside, but it's size made it difficult to pull up.

He winced every time it made a loud clang, wanting to scream from the paranoia, but he couldn't get it up the stairs without the noises. He just hopped that the humming wouldn't come back.

Pushing the bucket upside down, Izuku climbed onto the edge and reached up to feel the key hole. Keeping one hand on it, he held the key up and aligned his hands, thrusting it in and twisting. The door opened with a soft click. Letting go of the key, Izuku pushed the door open, hating the way it creaked as it went, and stepped off of the bucket and into the room.

It was brighter inside, the middle of the room having a small light shinning down on some sort of pedestal. Racing forward, Izuku stood on the pedestal and looked ahead. There was a button in front of him and a very large eye just ahead, closed. Not even the eye in the living room was this big! A part of him was scared to touch the button, worried that it might make noise or alert whatever monster was lurking around...but his curiosity won out.

The eye opened as he pressed the button down, a metallic screech coming from it but once it was open, he didn't care about the sound anymore.

There was a large screen under the metal, divided into several sections and showing different areas. In most of them, there were beds with little...children in them. Wait, was that the nursery? He looked between the screens, the blood draining from his face as he soaked it all in. Most of the beds were empty save for a few and he could recognize that head of brown hair. Uraraka was sleeping softly, oblivious to the horrors just outside the door. Ojiro was there too, sleeping in a bed nearly across the room from hers.

This whole time, they were being watched. Every thing they did was seen. When they slept, when they tried to escape. When they played or laughed or cried or were taken from the nursery. Someone saw it all on this screen. But who was it?

The light above him turned off, making Izuku gasp sharply. Then, the door that lead into the room slammed shut. There was no humming, but he knew something else was in there. He backed away from the pedestal, now feeling lost in the middle of the dark room. He couldn't see anything at all. His breathes came quickly as he struggled to find out where it was or even what it was. There was the sound of moving fabric, drawing closer. He was going to die here.

"Stop!" He screamed into the emptiness, clutching his head tightly as he braced himself, but nothing came. What was going on?

The light came back on, just to show a tall figure towering above him. It was a woman, dressed in a dark brown kimono, her hair twisted into a tall bun on her head. She wore a white mask over her face, the eye holed black and empty. He shivered, about to stand up and run-where to?-but stopped when she reached out her hand, holding up a small figure with some kind of dark magic.

His eyes blew wide. "Asui?!"

The small girl struggled in the lady's grasp, her feet kicking out in front of her. "Iz-" Both of them disappeared into the darkness, but they weren't gone. He could still hear the shifting of fabric.

"Let her go!" He shouted, his own voice echoing back. "Asui!"

"Izuku!" Asui croaked back, her voice filled with fear. "Help me!"

"Asui!" He shouted back. He ran into the darkens, chasing after her voice but stopped when he tripped on something. He sucked in a pained gasp and held his knee. It throbbed painfully, threatening to overwhelm him.

"Izuku, please!"

Fabric swept by him, too close for comfort. He grabbed onto something metal, hoping it was a weapon, and dragged it back into the light. Much to his surprise, it was a mirror. What was he supposed to do with this?!

He saw the lady draw closer in the corner of his eye and he held up the mirror as a shield, hoping to avoid whatever magic she would use on him. As he clenched his eyes shut, he heard her hiss and scream in pain before disappearing into a puff of black smoke. Looking up, he drew in sharp, hiccuped breaths as he tried to understand what just happened. Was she gone?

"Look out!"

Izuku turned around in time to see the lady appear behind him, her arm stretched out to grab him, but she stopped when he angles the mirror in her direction again. The mirror grew bright, shinning against the lady's face and she backed away into the darkness again. With a moment to process this, he looked down at the item in his hands, both relieved and shocked. Was that why the mirror in that room was cracked?

She appeared again, but this time, he was ready. He angled the mirror in her direction and didn't stop as she backed away. He pushed it forward, chasing after her. "Give Asui back!" He shouted, hoping she would let the girl go and leave them alone.

As he followed the lady into the darkness, the mirror grew brighter and brighter until it burst, pieces of glass shattering across the floor. A sickening scream echoed out and the lights broke above him. Izuku fell onto his back, the wind rushing out of his lungs for a moment. His finger tips buzzed and his mind begged him to just get up! Get up!

Another light came on, a little ways away from him and under it was the lady, laying on the floor and whimpering in pain. A small gnome was curled by close by, but not resting against the lady. It looked scared and he could tell that it was cowering, even from his spot on the floor. Standing up on shaky legs, he rushed over to the gnome first.

"Oh no." He stared down at it. There was nothing about it that made it different from all of the other gnome he had seen either in the nursery, the furnace room or just walking around, but he knew what this meant. That magic surrounding Asui must've done something and now...her body was gone, replaced with a little gnome. The lady was the one who turned them, then. She was the one who took away his friends. Todoroki, Momo and now Asui. They were all victims to this monster's magic and there was no way to reverse it.

"Asui?" The gnome didn't respond, just continued to cower away from him. She wasn't in this little creature anymore. Asui was gone.

Slowly, Izuku turned toward the lady, who was still whimpering on the floor. Anger boiled in his stomach as he slowly stood from his kneeling position and marched toward her. She didn't make any signs of moving or even acknowledged he was coming closer. He felt his vision hyper-focus on her, his anger roaring louder and louder.

"You killed her." It wasn't a question. "You killed her...so I'll do the same to you."

He knelt next to her head, seeing only a slight glimpse of the face under her now broken mask, but he didn't care to analyze it. With a murderous frown, he lowered his mouth onto her pale neck and ripped at it with his teeth until she stopped moving. Warm liquid ran down his chin as he backed away, his anger only slightly relived. He could only think of how she deserved worse.

Turning back to the gnome, he stood up again and gently wrapped his arms around it's neck. He only let go once it stopped shivering and grabbed it's hand once he stood up. She was so close. She was so close to making it out...Izuku kissed the gnome's little hat in reverence, hoping it would be enough to show how sorry he was for not getting there in time.

He walked back down the hall with the little creature in tow, his mind numbed over. His steps were like a hollow march, echoing against the walls. He had nothing to fear now. There was no one who could stop him. He stepped out into the open air, the smell of sea salt meeting his nose and birds called around him. The metal ship had left but he didn't care. All he could see for miles was water, but he was free. He was finally free from The Maw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys voted for Izuku to escape successful! It was really lucky for you guys, because I was planning to ruin his escape. I might still write an additional chapter, which will be very short, with the second option, but this one is the one I settled on. If you want to see pictures of any of these character, aside from The Spider, which is my own creation, you can google them or even play the game. If anyone has anything to say, don't he shy and leave a review! Thanks for going through this adventure with me!

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to talk about this story or any others of mine, then please join my discord! https://discord.gg/Y9Bzgn


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